Firecracker remnants, gift boxes, packaging material: BMC collects 443 metric tonnes of additional waste during five days of Diwali | Mumbai News

Mumbai: While the city celebrated Diwali, the BMC’s sanitation workforce remained on duty, collecting and transporting around 36,445 metric tonnes of municipal solid waste over five days between Nov 7 and 11. This was approximately 443 metric tonnes more than the normal average collection for the period, with firecracker remnants, gift boxes and packaging material adding to the festival waste.According to BMC data, the civic body undertook 6,787 trips to transport the waste during the five-day period. Against the average daily collection of 7,200.40 metric tonnes recorded in October, the expected collection for five days was around 36,002 metric tonnes. The BMC transports the solid waste generated across the city to Kanjurmarg processing site. The additional burden during Diwali comes at a time when sanitation teams have to already manage waste generated across residential neighbourhoods, commercial areas, markets and major public spaces. Apart from routine garbage collection, workers also have to ensure that firecracker debris and discarded packaging are cleared promptly to prevent waste from accumulating on roads and footpaths.The highest waste collection was recorded on Nov 7, when the civic body collected 7,810.26 metric tonnes through 1,399 trips — around 610 metric tonnes above the normal daily average.The additional waste comprised largely firecracker remnants, gift boxes, packaging material and other festival-related litter. The BMC deployed its sanitation workforce to ensure regular road sweeping, door-to-door garbage collection and clearance of garbage-vulnerable spots across roads, markets, residential neighbourhoods and public spaces.“Collection and transportation of waste to designated disposal facilities continued through the festival period, even as a large part of the city celebrated Diwali,” said a civic official appealing to citizens to segregate waste, hand it over only to authorised collection personnel and refrain from dumping or burning garbage in public places.Deputy municipal commissioner Kiran Dighavkar, who heads the BMC’s solid waste management department, said, “The additional waste figure does not include that which is sent to the civic body’s dry waste centres. Mumbai has 46 such centres, which collectively receive around 350 metric tonnes of dry waste every day.”