What if we say your prayers can be eco-friendly? You can laugh if you don’t believe us but this is actually happening in Ajmer. The red roses offered at the Moinuddin Chisti Dargah by zayrins (pilgrims) will not go to waste but it will be gifted back to nature as organic compost.
Every day about 2-tonne roses are offered at the dargah and it ends up as waste. In an initiative to reduce waste, Temple Waste Management Programme is likely to be established soon.
It is estimated that from 2 tonnes of rose petals about 30 kg of organic compost will be made. This means there is a possibility of generating 900 kg compost per month. If this method is applied, it will require about 3 days to manufacture compost.
According to the DNA report, at the end of the holy month of Ramzan, the project will kick start in association with the Rural Development Programme (RDP) of Art of Living (AOL) Foundation as part of its waste management programme. It would be funded by a corporate as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme.
“The project is being taken up as part of 100 clean iconic cities programme. It is a combined effort of dargah administration, AOL and Hindustan Zinc. Dargah administration will provide land and facilities for waste collection AOL will provide technical expertise and Hindustan Zinc would fund it through its CSR programme,” said Dr. Adil, assistant Nazim, Ajmer Dargah to DNA.
Trustee RDP, AOL Foundation, Deepak Sharma said to DNA, “The dargah committee was not in agreement to sell the compost as it is made from flowers that were offered with prayers by pilgrims. So a nominal cost of Rs 6 per kg would be charged for it against the Rs.20 per kg market cost of organic compost.”