Punaravartan : Pune shows the way to conservation of soil this Ganeshutsav !

The Punaravartan campaign, being conducted by 25 organisations in Pune city, aims to collect between 50 to 100 tonnes of natural clay and return  it to artisans for reuse. 

The Punaravartan campaign was initiated by eCoexist Foundation in 2020, through experimentation and research  on the potential of recycling shaadu clay, which is a non- renewable resource.  Post Ganesh immersion in water bodies, the residue creates clay deposits on their beds, that are harmful for the flora and fauna in these.  This non-renewable resource is also lost for ever. 

In 2022, over 20 city based organisations, joined the effort, and reached out to over 150 societies, several schools and institutions, and with over 200 volunteers on the ground, collected 23 tonnes of this precious natural resource. 

This year the following groups have come together led by the eCoexist Foundation

• eCoexist Foundation
• CEE 
• SWaCH
• Social Seva Initiatives
• Jeevit Nadi
• Oikos 
• Poornam Ecovision 
• Global Shapers
• Paryavaran Gatividhi
• Cummins Foundation 
• Swachh Pune – Swachh Bharat
• Radio Big FM 
• The Youth Cosmo
• Ecological Society
• Confederation of Indian Industries
• Young Indians
• YUVA
• Emcure Foundation
• Pune Climate Warriors
• The Trusteeship Foundation
• RRBCEA
• Manav Pune 
• Bavdhan Citizens Forum 
• Swach Pune Swach Bharat
• Invoke Brandworks

Several schools will be participating as well and hosting collection centers. Ganesh Mandals have been informed about this effort and will also help to spread the word through video displays and whatsapp messages. 

The Pune Municipal Corporation has adopted the campaign and a training has been held for all staff from the Solid Waste Management Department in the collection process. 

Here is how the collection will be conducted in Pune city:

HOME IMMERSIONS : 

Poornam Ecovision along with Paryavaran Gatividhi will be hosting 50 collection centres (at least 3 in each ward) where citizens can come and offer their clay after visarjan. 

These 50 centres will be open on SUNDAY 1 OCT from 10 am to 2 pm 

HOME AND PUBLIC IMMERSIONS: 

The Pune Municipal Corporation will be hosting 46 collection centres for Clay donation (at least 3 in each ward ) where citizens can visit and immerse their clay idols or donate the clay directly. The clay sludge from the immersion tanks will be collected after the visarjan.

These 46 centres will be open for collection of clay on 28 Sept THURSDAY .

SOCIETY IMMERSIONS: 

SWaCH Cooperative will be hosting 26 collection centres at large societies across the city for clay donation and collection. 

These 26 centres will be open for collection of clay on 1st October 2023

In all, 122 collection centres on various dates throughout the festival, will be available for the citizens of Pune for donation of clay sludge.

Maps of the three collection systems will be available on the PUNARAVARTAN website www.punaravartan.org along with addresses and contact details of coordinators for each centre. 

Citizens can fill out a form to sign up for clay donation on the Punaravartan website. 

Societies who do larger collections of clay can contact the team for assistance with logistics. 

The clay sludge collected will be redistributed to artisans and also put back into experimental applications to showcase alternate solutions by the next season. 

Know more at www.punaravartan.org

Manisha Sheth Gutman, Director, eCoexist Foundation +919850084383

Vrunda Shete, Director, eCoexist Foundation

Project Lead, Punarvartan +919869359081