12 September,2026 08:26 AM IST | Mumbai | Aditi Alurkar
A PoP idol being made ready ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi. REPRESENTATION/FILE PIC
As the city looks forward to the upcoming Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has sent out an Expression of Interest (EOI) for agencies that can reuse or upcycle the "Plaster of Paris" (PoP) collected after idol immersions during visarjan. Last year, the BMC collected nearly 2400 metric tonnes of PoP after the last immersions, while approximately 315 tonnes were collected after Navaratri.
"Last year was our first attempt at collecting all the used PoP after festivities for responsible disposal. This time we intend to combine the PoP collected over the two years and work with agencies that can process this material," said Kiran Dighavkar, deputy municipal commissioner (Solid Waste Management).
[popcorn number="2400 metric tonnes" desc="The police have sought information about the hotel staff" class="Default"]
According to Dighavkar, these agencies would use their scientific and environmentally compliant methods to make PoP fit for reuse, such as idol-making material, plasterboards, ceramics, medical plaster, and bricks, among other uses.
BMC has also rolled out Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for idol immersions at the zone level, where all idols are to be retrieved from temporary tanks within 24 hours and stored in an interim facility. The ward will maintain records of the collection, while closed-body vehicles will be used for transporting them.
Initiating project "Prasad to Power", the city's solid waste management department and Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal plan to fuel BMC's biomethanation plants at Nair Hospital, Kasturba Hospital, GTB Hospital, and Sion Hospital to generate energy. These city hospitals will then be able to use the generated electricity within their premises for lighting patient wards and common areas.
The move plans for scientific processing of the approximate 8-10 tonnes of organic waste that is typically generated over 10-11 days of the festival at the "prasad kaksh" and "annachhatra". This waste will now be segregated, collected, and transported to BMC's biomethanation plants.
While each plant has the processing capacity of two metric tonnes per day, this project estimates a collection of 80 metric tonnes of organic waste, generating 7744 units of renewable electricity depending upon the waste's quantity, quality, and plant operations.
