Hyderabad: A temple complex at Sainikpuri has started a compost system for disposing puja material as the temple authorities don’t like the idea of throwing away the material into a regular garbage bin.
Lakshmi Narayana and Uma Maheshwari temple complex has started segregating puja material in a basket and then composting it within the temple premises.
The move to compost temple waste is the brainchild of Ms N. Kasturi, a senior citizen.
Speaking about the compost system, Ms Kasturi said, “We did not like the practice of throwing the temple waste in the regular dustbins. We thought we can make the best use of the material and dispose it in an environment-friendly manner.
“So we started composting it by using cow dung. As Sainikpuri is green, we have plenty of trees not just in our homes but all across the residential area and the compost can be used as a natural fertiliser.”
The people in the residential area are not limiting their green efforts to temples, but have plans to spread it to the community as well.
The residents want to make use of the waste generated from the trees at the street corners and compost it instead of giving it to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
Some of the residents even have their own vermicompost pits in their homes.
Ms Deepa Shailender, another resident of Sainikpuri, said, “We would like to spread this concept to the nooks and corners of the community.
We started with the temple but we have also arranged green nets for the bins to attract people to this concept, where all the puja material, especially the flowers and leaves from the temple, are put into the green nets and then that material is put into the bin.
The residents here maintain the compost pit for the temple.”
Local temples are very keen to take up such eco-friendly methods to maintain the temple surroundings.
In Sainikpuri, there is a swachh mandir team to ensure that the vicinity of the temple is kept clean.
