SWaCH Pune Seva Cooperative – Nirmalya 2018 – For a better environment

Like every year, this year too SWaCH had adopted 18 ghats across the city in order to divert Nirmalya and dry waste (decoration, pooja items) from entering the river and do their regular effort for a Happy Ganesh festival.

Made possible be generous sponsors Cummins, Emcure and Sudarshan and supported by the citizens and PMC, this event creates awareness about the need to stop pollution in the rivers and better waste segregation as well.

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The wet nirmalya diverted from rivers towards composting amounted to approximately 97 tonnes. And over 24 tonnes of dry waste were diverted away for recycling and processing.

The PMC and PCMC ensured the immersion of 33,730 idols into tanks instead of the river. While the final day of visarjan always sees more participation, the over 60 staff and 150 waste pickers on each day were joined by several enthusiastic volunteers like every year.

“We have learnt from our past experiences and the citizens also have become more aware” says Shobha Bansode a SWaCH member who has been at the ghats for several years now. “Every year is a learning experience” echoes Priya Kathuria, Operations and Events Head at SwaCH “The city is growing, but so is the awareness among the citizens.

Those who come for visarjan expect SWaCH waste-pickers at the ghats and the event which helps divert and dispose off Nirmalya from the rivers has also succeeded at creating awareness in its own way”. Apart from waste pickers and staff stationed on the 18 ghats across PMC and PCMC to enable an eco-friendly celebration, a call for Volunteers through traditional media like newspapers and radio and also through Facebook, texts and whatsapp etc. meant many had signed up. Citizens could access Ghat locations and specifically assigned coordinators listed on SWaCH website and face book and whatsapp messages making for a smoother engagement.

Volunteers ranged from self- help groups to several first time volunteers and some who have been participating in the efforts for several years now. Shailaja Deshpande of Jeevit nadi, who is actively involved in river preservation on a regular basis and is a knowledge partner with SWaCH ,volunteered alongside SWaCH workers at one of the busiest

spots , and remarked on the organised and disciplined approach “SWaCH is doing such a noble work.

People these days are aware about conservation of environment. Almost 90% families agreed to immerse the idol in the tank and almost everyone handed over the nirmalya to us. With several years’ experience in doing this, the SWaCH team was very organised and ready for the crowds. Many people were appreciative of the facility provided and offered prasad to the staff and volunteers after the immersion. With active participation by more citizens (in volunteering), I am optimistic that we will be able to gradually keep our rivers clean.
“A spokesperson from the sponsor – Cummins summed it up as “Cummins strives to provide solutions towards environmental sustainability while believing in a collaborative CSR. Nirmalya initiative began several years ago in partnership with Pune Municipal Corporation, SWaCH and other partner organizations and has since been successfully scaled up and replicated, demonstrating environmental sustainability through collaboration with partners who share similarly thought process and passion towards the environmental care and sustainability.

Since last three years we are converting Nirmalya into Compost with the help of GoVidnyan and distributing it to farmers. This time we have also approached 40 societies and collected Nirmlay directly from them to convert it into compost and also created awareness and Ganesh idol making workshop in schools.

Every year all our volunteers passionately work alongside SWaCH and PMC to convey the message of restricting water pollution. ”

Maithili Manakkwad, who volunteered along with several others in a group had this to say. “I believe this is great service from SWaCH and the PMC, as the rivers stay clean. This year around too, felt refreshed and blessed volunteering in your Nirmalya collection campaign at Katraj ghat. The arrangement and coordination was impeccable and we congratulate you and your team for that. This time we had some kids working alongside us and we observed was people were more receptive to the kids in giving Nirmalya. The enthusiasm of the kids and their inherent charm surprised people and were more than willing to listen to the kids. So, I would suggest you encourage volunteering among schools and children. Moreover, the activity also brings awareness among this young

generation.”

SWaCH thanks those who volunteered and urge citizens to participate next time as well.