Mumbai’s F-South ward has begun converting floral waste collected after the Ganpati festival into compost for civic gardens, using nearly 25 large composting bins at St Xavier’s ground in Parel.
The nirmalaya, or floral remnants of worship, was collected from 18 artificial immersion sites across the Parel-Dadar belt. Four dedicated handcarts were also deployed to collect offerings directly from neighbourhoods, including smaller lanes and housing clusters, as well as large mandals in Lalbaug, Hindmata, Chinchpokli and Sewri.
Sanjay Mohite, assistant engineer in the ward’s solid waste department, said the handcarts collected the floral material at source. The system was introduced during this festive season to prevent the waste from being mixed with other refuse or discarded in the sea.
Vrushali Ingole, assistant municipal commissioner of F-South ward, said the collected material was transported to the composting facility at St Xavier’s ground and placed in separate bins. A microbial culture has been added to accelerate decomposition, she said.
Officials expect the floral waste to take about a month to fully decompose. The resulting compost will be used as manure in civic gardens in the area.
The collection system covers a dense part of central Mumbai where Ganpati celebrations take place across chawls, homes, narrow lanes and large public mandals. Separating nirmalaya from mixed waste allows the organic material to be processed separately rather than sent through the regular waste stream.
Local Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Sachin Padwal welcomed the initiative, noting that nirmalaya often cannot be mixed with regular waste. The ward’s next step is to complete the composting cycle and use the processed material in its civic gardens.
