Mumbai: How does one tackle nearly 39 tonnes of leftovers after dayslong community feasts? Use them to produce fuel and power, for starters. BMC tied up with Lalbaugcha Raja for the first time for an initiative—Prasad to Power —under which food waste generated after being served to thousands of devotees on each of the 12 days of the Ganpati festival this year was sent to a municipal biomethanation plant in Sewri, instead of ending up at a landfill.The plant, set up on the premises of Sewri TB Hospital, has generated 3,645 cubic metres of biogas and 4,382 kWh of power in total using the wet waste. Civic officials said the biogas will be used at the TB Hospital and the power at its ward 9, which has 90 patients.Officials said BMC coordinated with the mandal’s kitchen committee that handles the distribution of waste and 45 trips were made in all to collect organic waste. The collected waste was then transported to the Sewri plant. As the facility, which has been in operation since 2024, can tackle only 2 tonnes of waste per day, any surplus sent on the 12 days was redirected to other biomethanisation plants at Sion, Kasturba and Nair hospitals.Officials said the initiative, undertaken by the F-South ward, also saved the time and money that would have gone towards transporting the leftovers to the Kanjurmarg dumping ground.TOI visited the Sewri facility on Tuesday, where waste was being processed. Officials from the mechanical and electrical department said adequate arrangements are being made to provide the generated electricity to the hospital ward.Kiran Dighavkar, deputy municipal commissioner of BMC’s solid waste management department, said the initiative was planned well in advance. “The wet waste generated daily from the mandal’s prasad kaksh and annachhatra was segregated and transported to biomethanation plants at civic hospitals,” he said.The plants at Sewri, Sion, Kasturba and Nair hospitals also process organic waste from hotels in nearby localities.
