Mumbai floral waste collected after the Ganpati festival is being composted for use in civic gardens in the F-South ward, after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation introduced dedicated handcarts and separate processing at St Xavier’s ground in Parel.
Nearly 25 large composting bins at the ground have been filled with nirmalaya, or floral remnants from worship, collected from 18 artificial immersion sites across the Parel-Dadar belt. The material is being kept separate from other waste before being processed into compost.
Sanjay Mohite, assistant engineer in the ward’s solid waste department, said floral waste was collected at source using handcarts introduced for the first time during this festive season. The system was intended to prevent offerings from being mixed with regular waste or being disposed of in the sea.
Vrushali Ingole, assistant municipal commissioner of the F-South ward, said the BMC deployed four dedicated handcarts to collect floral offerings from neighbourhoods and large Ganpati mandals in Lalbaug, Hindmata, Chinchpokli and Sewri. The collection covered areas ranging from small residential lanes and chawls to larger festival installations.
The collected material was transported to the composting facility at St Xavier’s ground and placed in separate bins. According to Ingole, a microbial culture has been added to accelerate the composting process. Officials expect the floral waste to take about a month to fully decompose.
The finished compost is expected to be used as manure in civic gardens in the area. The arrangement gives the ward a separate route for handling organic religious offerings instead of sending them into the regular municipal waste stream.
The F-South ward includes parts of central Mumbai where Ganpati celebrations take place across densely populated neighbourhoods and narrow lanes. During the festival, floral offerings are generated at household celebrations, community mandals and immersion locations, making collection logistics a challenge for municipal workers.
Local Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Sachin Padwal welcomed the initiative and said nirmalaya often cannot be mixed with regular waste. The BMC’s current operation will continue through the composting period, after which the processed material is expected to be applied in the ward’s civic gardens.
