All festivities in India were on hold for past two years due to Covid pandemic induced restrictions. This year, the government has removed all restrictions and given total freedom to people to celebrate the auspicious festival of Ganesh Chaturthi.
Ganesh Chaturthi is a major festival in Maharashtra, where people come out in large numbers to celebrate Ganesh’s arrival with zeal and enthusiasm. Many bring him home with lot of pomp and fervor. Though Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Pune and Karnataka, Mumbai is the most famous for its massive processions.
People install an idol of Lord Ganesh in public places as well their homes and worshipping them up to ten days. Ganesh pandals are decorated with flowers and other decorative items some of which is synthetic and when thrown as waste.
As the festival is celebrated with full fervour and enthusiasm, the waste generation during this time is immense and also calls for an alert as tonnes and tonnes of waste is diverted in water bodies making it dangerous for both flora and fauna of rivers.
This is the reason why Nagpur Municipal Commissioner this year launched a host of ‘Nirmaya Raths’ to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in eco-friendly manner.
CELEBRATION IN LARGE SCALE
While speaking to Indian Masterminds DC Nagpur, Mr Vipin Itankar holding additional charge of Nagpur Municipal Commissioner, said “The initiative is a brainchild of the regular Nagpur Municipal Commissioner, Radhakrishnan B, IAS. Looking at the scale of Ganesh Chaturthi celebration in Nagpur where around 600-700 garguntum Ganpati idols will be commissioned at the mandal level besides lakhs of small idols installed in people’s homes during this festival.
However, every year the festival leaves lot of debris in its aftermath. To tackle this menace, ‘Nimalya Rath’ was launched by the commissioner to collect waste material.
NIRMALYA RATH
During the celebration, flowers, garlands and many other organic materials are offered to Lord Ganesh which further converts into tonnes of waste. Under the Nimalya Rath, ten chariots have been deployed in each zone which will run for all the ten days till 9 September, the last date of Ganesh Chaturthi.
Mr. Vipin said, “All the waste will be collected at each mandal and the chariot which is allotted a particular mandal will further take it to the decompose site. Special arrangements have been made for the vehicle to collect waste in bags with a storage of 400 kgs of material. The waste materials would be dumped at Bhandewadi Compost Plant in order to convert them into fertilizer for plants at various public gardens in the city.” People have also been alerted to cooperate with the municipal corporation in keeping the city clean.
The chariots will move in Laxminagar, Dharampeth, Dhantoli, Hanuman Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Gandhibag, Satranjipura, Lakadganj, Ashinagar and Mangalwari zones for collection purpose. During 2019 Ganesh festival, the corporation had collected about 150 metric tons of waste materials.
Mr. Vipin flagged off the Nirmalya Rath on 30 August in presence of Dipak Kumar Meena, Ram Joshi, Addl Municipal Commissioners, Yogesh Kumbhejkar, CEO, Nagpur ZP, Prakash Warhade, Asstt Commissioner, Rohidas Rathod, Kaustubh Chatterjee, Surbhi Jaiswal, Mehul Kosurkar
