Retaining The Holy Fragrance Of Ganesh-Utsav: MBMC To Recycle 50 Tonnes Of Floral Waste Into Incense Sticks

Mira-Bhayandar: The ten-day-long Ganesh-Utsav celebrations ended with a musical bang on Tuesday. After every immersion day, the ones who remained were the sanitation workers attached to the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) working around the clock to sweep the roads and immersion points to get them ready for the next day. Among the waste which was collected included around 50 metric tonnes (MT) of Nirmalya (floral remains) a significant increase of ten tonnes compared to 40 tonnes collected last year.

The MBMC has once again embarked on a mission to transform the floral waste into incense sticks. The MBMC has teamed up with the Uttan-based Keshav-Srushti organisation which has successfully commissioned the project of turning floral waste into organic incense sticks, which are not only useful in religious rituals but purify the air by spreading a sublime fragrance.

Statement Of Municipal Commissioner Sanjay Katkar

“Apart from our regular organic manure production at our in-house unit, a major quantum of the floral waste which is gathered from streets and also collected in urns kept at immersion points during festivals are handed over to Keshav Srushti for recycling them into incense sticks.” said municipal commissioner Sanjay Katkar.

The process of manufacturing incense sticks envisages proper segregation of different kinds of flowers-some fresh, some on the verge of withering, and some already dried up, followed by grinding the selected petals into powder and mixed with natural ingredients including dung from desi Gir-breed cows and essential herbs.

Statement Of Deputy Civic Chief Sanjay Bangar

“Besides our regular accumulation drive, the organisation had also provided 100 kg bags which were distributed to Ganesh-Utsav mandals for the collection of floral waste.” said deputy civic chief Sanjay Bangar. 

The recycling process not only converts the discarded floral waste into a useful product but also creates employment opportunities for the members of the tribal community who are trained and roped in for the job.

The MBMC which has bagged the prestigious Skoch, Order-of -Merit Award for successfully implementing green manure conversion by optimizing floral offerings also aims at extending a helping hand to promote the project by creating a mechanism to collect discarded floral waste from religious institutions in the twin city.