Waste from Ganesh festival 40% more this year; 400% more from three years ago

The stretch from Necklace Road towards Secretariat junction is packed with a series of trolley vehicles carrying Ganesh idols of all shapes and sizes. Revellers in synchronised attires ride atop the vehicles, tired, yet euphoric, waiting for the gigantic cranes to lift their much venerated idols and release them in the waters of Hussainsagar.

A series of instructions from the police reverberate, announcing crane numbers to be approached for immersion. Several tired police officers can be seen sitting around, waiting for the ordeal to be over so they can get to the evasive 40 winks.

Suddenly a confetti machine attracts all eyeballs, shooting a flurry of colourful paper shreds and glitter all over the place.

Roads littered with paper confetti and other waste in Hyderabad on Saturday.
| Photo Credit:
RAMAKRISHNA G

The road still has traces of last night’s festivities, in confetti strewn about, used paper plates stacked up on the side of the road, and the unbearable stench coming from the drying streaks of urine behind the police barricades on the far side of the lake. However, it is still a much prettier picture than the day before. No traces remain on the roads of paper and plastic cups used to distribute ‘Prasadam’, nor of the food remnants thereof. Flower and foliage waste from the trolleys is cleared without a hint.

Sanitation teams of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) have done a thorough job of cleaning the road, even before the shindig comes to an end. A total 136 teams were on the ground 24X7, and over 6,000 sweepers worked continuously clearing the waste every day. A total 770 workers toiled to keep the immersion point at Hussainsagar clean, as per the official data.

Sadly for all of them, the immersion waste continues to be on the rise each year, with no attention paid to sustainability or civic sense.

Roads littered with paper confetti in Hyderabad on Saturday.
| Photo Credit:
RAMAKRISHNA G

As per the official records, a total 4,527 metric tonnes of additional waste was lifted off the roads during the 11 days of festivities ending on September 25, 2026. This is about 40% more waste than last year, when 3,266 metric tonnes of waste was collected and carted off to the solid waste management facility at Jawahar Nagar at the end of the Ganesh festivities.

Compared to three years ago, this year’s waste is four times more. In 2023, the total waste generated from the festival was about 1,100 metric tonnes.

Officials from GHMC informed that a total of 1.15 lakh idols were immersed in various lakes within GHMC’s purview, up to 5 p.m. on September 26, 2026. A total 66,000 idols were reportedly immersed in the Hussainsagar alone.