Kolkata’s zero-waste Durga Puja initiative has been introduced at several high-footfall pandals, with organisers, civic bodies, volunteers and recycling partners working to segregate and process waste generated during the celebrations.
The participating pujas include College Square, Singhi Park, Mudiali, Tala Prattoy, Harish Park, Bhowanipore Abasar Samity and Central Park in Salt Lake. The organisers have installed separate bins for plastic and organic waste, with plastic planned for recycling and organic waste intended to be converted into fertiliser.
The initiative is being carried out with support from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation. Conservancy workers and volunteers are monitoring the pandal premises and asking visitors to follow the segregation rules. According to the organisers, around seven pandals were selected for the initiative by the office of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
Subrata Gupta, chief adviser to the chief minister, said the celebrations should not damage the environment through careless disposal of waste. The drive places responsibility for waste handling at the point where it is generated, rather than relying only on post-event collection by civic workers.
At Mudiali Club, around 13 dustbins have been installed within the pandal premises, according to Arun Lal, a member of the puja committee. At Singhi Park, the premises are being swept at regular intervals. Avirup Sen, secretary of the Singhi Park Sarbojanin Durga Puja Committee, said the site was remaining clean despite the flow of visitors.
The Indian Plastics Federation, an industry body representing stakeholders in the plastic sector, and city-based diversified conglomerate Tandhan Group have partnered with the civic bodies to recycle waste generated at the pandals. Their involvement links the festival-level segregation system with downstream waste processing.
Organisers said the programme is also intended to make visitors more aware of responsible disposal. Subhasish Maity, joint secretary of Tala Prattoy, said the initiative showed that responsible waste disposal could make a difference. Basudeb Banerjee of the Abasar Sarbojanin Durgotsab Committee said waste management had been a major challenge for the puja in earlier years, but the committee had joined the drive this year.
The participating organisers also pointed to the cost and administrative requirements of maintaining cleaner pandals. Lakhan Dhona of Salt Lake Sanskritik Sangha, which is organising the puja at Central Park, said future organisers could set aside a dedicated budget for waste management during the festival.
Amit Agarwal, president of the Indian Plastics Federation, and Prachi Jalan, director of Tandhan Group, described the initiative as a step towards making waste segregation and recycling a regular part of city pujas. The participating pandals will continue the segregation, collection and recycling arrangements during the celebrations.
