Ganesh immersion: GHMC removes 80,000 metric tonnes of idol debris

Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) collected a total of 80,202 metric tonnes of waste while clearing idol debris and puja material from the city's lakes and water bodies during the 11-days Ganesh festival.

After 1-day Ganesh festivities, one of the major task for the civic body was to collect waste and retrieve the water bodies located across the city. According to GHMC, from September 1 to 11, the civic body removed 80,202 metric tonnes of waste and on Saturday alone, around 7,334 tonnes of idol debris, puja material and other items were retrieved from 74 artificial ponds which were set up by the corporation.

During the festival, 10,000 sanitation workers worked round the clock to speed up garbage collection at Ganesh pandals and ponds with the help of 427 vehicles and 67 excavators, of which 330 vehicles and 40 excavators were of the GHMC and the rest were hired exclusively to clear the material after the idol immersion.

Several tonnes of material was collected and shifted to Secondary Collection and Transfer Points. From there, the material was transported to the Jawahar Nagar dump yard for recycling. Around 7,124 trips were made by the vehicles to transport the dump to Jawahar dump yard.

The Entomology wing of the GHMC also took up fogging activity at many places where the immersion rituals were held. Apart from artificial ponds, the remnants of idols, their frames and puja material including garlands, were fished out of the lakes including the Hussain Sagar.