Puja waste disposal: How to discard flowers without polluting water

After a puja, the flowers, leaves, garlands and other offerings may feel too sacred to simply put in the bin. This is one reason people traditionally take nirmalya to rivers, ponds or lakes. But today, that practice can add to water pollution. The government has directed authorities to prevent the dumping of puja material and religious offerings in water bodies. The National Mission for Clean Ganga has also issued directions prohibiting immersion of puja material and other religious offerings in rivers and other water bodies during festivals.

So, what should you do with puja waste instead?SEPARATE FLOWERS AND OTHER BIODEGRADABLE WASTE

The first step is simple: segregate the waste.

Remove flowers, leaves, garlands and other biodegradable material from plastic bags, decorative material and other non-biodegradable items. Under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026, flowers are classified as wet waste and are meant to be composted or processed through bio-methanation.

If you have a home composting setup, flowers and leaves can be added there, provided they are free of plastic, synthetic decorations and other unsuitable material.KEEP PLASTIC AND DECORATIONS OUT

Puja waste often comes mixed with plastic packaging, ribbons, thermocol, synthetic flowers and other decorative material. These should not be mixed with biodegradable waste.

Separate the non-biodegradable material and dispose of it through the appropriate dry-waste collection system. In Delhi's directions for festival waste management, biodegradable material is to be collected separately for recycling or composting, while non-biodegradable material is to be separately disposed of.

Flowers may look harmless, but large quantities of religious offerings can affect water quality. Government advisories specifically note that puja material and religious offerings can contribute to pollution and harm aquatic life.

This also means avoiding the common practice of throwing flowers, leaves, food offerings, ash or other puja material into drains, lakes, ponds and rivers.USE DESIGNATED COLLECTION POINTS

If your temple, housing society or local authority has a nirmalya collection bin or designated collection point, use it. Some local systems separately collect religious offerings so that biodegradable material can be composted or processed.

For festivals such as Ganesh Chaturthi, authorities may also create designated immersion facilities. In Delhi, for instance, official directions have encouraged artificial or temporary immersion ponds and asked devotees to remove flowers and decorative material before immersion and dispose of them separately.A SIMPLE RULE TO REMEMBER

Respect the offering, but don't return it to a polluted water body.

Keep flowers and leaves separate for composting or designated collection, and keep plastic, thermocol and other non-biodegradable material out of the wet waste. It is a small change in how puja waste is handled, but it keeps religious practices from adding to water pollution.- EndsPublished By: vaishnavi parasharPublished On: Sep 13, 2026 16:02 IST