Sustainability Initiatives conducted a rapid study to explore the magnitude of additional waste generated during the 10 day Ganesh festival and the prevalent practices of civic waste management in that duration. We worked with 15 volunteers from colleges, corporates and industry to interview 40 Sarvajanik Ganesh mandals in Pune and
quantities of materials used by them for activities like decoration and procession. Further, through field observations and interviews we investigated where and how much of this material ends up as waste and where is it disposed. The Pune Municipal Corporation provided us with waste statistics that corroborated the secondary data collected by volunteers. Further, we conducted an Online Survey to understand citizen perceptions about waste.
In brief our results showed that about 30% of additional waste is generated on Visarjan days. It was found that exotic floral decoration is most predominant during processions. Also, it was noted that about 43% out of the mandals interviewed have used reusable decoration material for pandals. Recommendations for better management of festival waste have also been discussed in the study.
Our research was very well received by the media and was featured in newspapers like DNA, Times of India, Maharashtra times, Sakal times, Lokmat, Pudhari & also covered by Saam TV.