80% of garbage turned out to be food waste during Chitra Pournami festivities in Tiruvannamalai

Efficient management needed to reduce food waste during Chitra Pournami festival in Tiruvannamalai town.

More than 80 per cent of the waste generated during Chitra Pournami festival in Tiruvannamalai town was food waste, especially items donated at annadhanam (food donation) centres.

Officials of Tiruvannamalai municipality said that around 190 tonnes of waste was generated during the festival in the town, including along the 14-km Girivalam path. Of this, around 150 tonnes came from civic body limits.

Most of the food waste was generated from 105 annadhanam spots, including those at 23 public places in the town. Over 160 organisations and individuals had obtained the nod for free distribution of food during Chitra Pournami. “Such enormous waste of food could have been avoided by efficient management of its distribution by the organisers. Devotees should have also been conscious of avoiding foodwaste during the festival,” said K. Priya, a resident.

Collector D. Bhaskara Pandian, along with Additional Collector C.A. Rishab, on Thursday monitored cleanliness drive taken up in the town. The two-day festivities, on April 23 and 24, attracted around 25 lakh visitors to the town.

Apart from 600 sanitary workers of the civic body, around 1,300 workers from DRDA were also engaged for the mammoth exercise, which ended on Thursday. Over 80 per cent of sanitary workers roped in, were women. Sanitary staff from other panchayat unions, like Cheyyar, Vandavasi, Arani, Thandrampattu and Chengam in the district, were also involved to ensure cleanliness during the festival. “Except for a few pockets, like the bus terminus, garbage has been removed from the rest of the town. Sanitary workers were honoured by the Collector for their commendable service during the festival,” N. Dakshnamurthy, Commissioner, Tiruvannamalai municipality, told The Hindu.

On average, 65-70 tonnes of waste gets generated every day in the town, which has over 1,200 streets in 39 wards. Of the 14.2-km-long Girivalam path, 6.2-km falls within the limits of the civic body while the remaining stretch of the path comes under six village panchayats.

Most of the waste generated during the festival was dumped at the 15-acre landfill site near the Girivalam path. Food waste will be recycled to make organic manure for use in farming and terrace gardens in the town.