Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee Launches Eco-Friendly Initiatives for Clean Durga Puja Celebration

Jamshedpur: Buoyed by the third cleanest city tag in the Swachh Survekshan survey report in July this year, the Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC) has planned to make Durga Puja a clean and environment-friendly celebration.

The urban civic body has announced a dedicated puja special waste collection vehicle, which will collect floral waste from the pandals on a daily basis. The floral waste collected from the pandals will be used to make compost and biomass for energy. Zone-wise vehicles will be deployed for making rounds to the pandals daily, beginning from shashti, JNAC officials said on Wednesday.

Besides, the dry and wet garbage, which includes flowers, disintegrated petals, bel patras, and mango leaves, will be segregated at the source point, i.e., pandal, before the waste is disposed off. The remaining paraphernalia, such as bhog handi, pattal leaf plates, decorative artificial garlands, etc., will be collected and disposed of in the pit at the visarjan ghats near the riverbanks.

The puja samitis have also been asked to make sure that green pandals are constructed. “Plastic and thermocol materials are banned, and none of the puja samitis will be allowed to use them in decorating the structures,” said Krishna Kumar, deputy municipal commissioner (DMC), JNAC. Also, the puja samitis have been asked to install two separate bins at the pandals to help the pandal hoppers dump the waste in the dedicated bins.

The hawkers, vendors, and street food sellers will not be allowed to use plastic and thermocol-made items to serve the customers. The flying squad of the JNAC will conduct random inspections of the shops at the pandals and take action to stop the use of banned items. Further, the devotees and enthusiasts going out to see pandals have been urged not to litter the streets with leftover food items and other waste materials. People should dump the waste in the bins lined up on the roads, officials said.

The DMC said that pujas will be organised in line with the Swachh Survekshan guidelines of 2026. The official informed that a meeting was convened with the town administration officials of the Tata Steel Utility and Infrastructure Services Ltd (TS UISL) to work out the plan to hold a clean and green Durga Puja, earlier on Tuesday.

“From September 17 to October 2, the civic body will organise a Swachata Hi Seva drive during the fortnight," he said, adding that the exercise will involve people through an awareness drive and make the city ready for the next edition of the Swachh Survekshan (2025-26).

Kendriya Durga Puja Samiti (KDPS), which is the apex body of the 330 plus puja samitis, has welcomed the initiative of the JNAC.

“Our puja samiti volunteers will cooperate with JNAC for effectively implementing the Swachh Abhiyan guidelines. But we also need the cooperation of the JNAC in removing garbage dumps, repairing the damaged streets and in providing proper lighting facilities on the roads leading to the pandals and at the visarjan ghats,” said Arun Kumar, member of the outfit.