MMC Collects 2.5 Tonne Sacred Waste From 3 Zones
The civic body is following an end-to-end process under which the collected material is ritually handed over by temple priests, dismantled and segregated before being sent to authorised recyclers.
Hyderabad:More than 2.5 tonnes of sacred waste has been collected so far by the Malkajgiri Municipal Corporation (MMC) from the Uppal, LB Nagar and Malkajgiri zones, with the next collection drive scheduled for August 22 across around 14 temples.
The civic body is following an end-to-end process under which the collected material is ritually handed over by temple priests, dismantled and segregated before being sent to authorised recyclers.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Malkajgiri municipal commissioner T. Vinay Krishna Reddy said the collected sacred material would first undergo an Udvasana puja performed by the temple priest concerned. It would then be dismantled and segregated according to the material before being handed over to authorised agencies for recycling.
The commissioner said the disposal of sacred items such as photo frames was one of the components of waste accumulating in the city. The initiative had helped minimise the practice of leaving sacred material at places such as under trees, while many residents had come forward to use the facility.
He said the collection, segregation and recycling process was aimed at ensuring that sacred waste did not end up in landfills, dumping yards or water bodies.
People who find it difficult to travel to designated collection points can leave sacred items, including old photographs, at their nearest temple in the coming days. The material can then be collected and shifted to the designated processing system during subsequent collection rounds, he said.
The collected material will be segregated into clay, metal, paper, cloth, plastic and other categories. Idols made of Plaster of Paris, plastic and other non-biodegradable materials will also be handed over to recyclers, who will determine what can be reused or processed.
The commissioner said the corporation would maintain end-to-end monitoring and follow-up until the authorised recycler begins processing to ensure that the sacred material does not end up in landfills or water bodies or get mixed with regular municipal waste.
The corporation has identified dedicated agencies to process the collected material. Depending on the quantity, it may either be sent for processing immediately or stored temporarily at a temple or community hall before being handed over to the recycler.
MMC plans to conduct the sacred-waste collection every third Saturday of the month, unless an emergency or other demands require a change.
Other civic bodies, including the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and Cyberabad Municipal Corporation (CMC), are also adopting similar arrangements, with sacred photographs, idols and other religious material being collected at designated locations and sent for recycling.
