Hyderabad: City-based NGO to give floral waste an organic makeover

Hyderabad: Several lakes in the City render a pitiable look as they are filled with trash, including floral waste and in order to restore the pristine glory of these water bodies, a City-based NGO named Dha3r has initiated a drive by clearing the floral debris from the Mansoorabad Pedda Cheruvu and Chinna Cheruvu to convert it into organic compost, as a part of a lake revival initiative.

Dha3r NGO's co-founder Manoj Vidiyala said that during the festive season, they have observed tones of floral waste floating on the lake's surface, leading to water pollution and upon their inspection at Mansoorabad Pedda Cheruvu and Chinna Cheruvu they have found that a huge amount of plastic and puja material is also being dumped.

He added, "Toxic pesticides and insecticides that remain as a residue on flowers leaches into the water, bruising the fragile ecosphere. Organic matter from the decomposing floral waste leads to the growth of algae, depleting oxygen levels in water, threatening aquatic life. Decomposing flowers is a pollution hazard on land as well, especially when the floral waste is wrapped in plastic bags and in order to stop this menace, we have planned to convert the floral waste into organic compost and the manure generated will be given to small nurseries for free of cost, as a pilot project."

Manoj said that in the first week of November, his NGO had started a cleaning drive on the lake beds and installed bins near the water bodies, to dump the collected floral waste. "We also have started a campaign to educate locals and requested people to throw debris into the said bins that have been placed over here. Within a week, we have seen a drastic change in both the lakes and people too have started dumping waste in the bins. Once we collect enough floral waste, the trash will then be segregated from plastics, which will later be sent to recycling factories, and floral waste will be placed in a bin to convert into organic manure. Presently, this process is taking 15 to 20 days", he added.