BMC lifts 36,445 tonnes of garbage in five days of Diwali, 443 tonnes above forecast

While Mumbaiites celebrated Diwali with their families, sanitation workers of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) stayed on duty to keep the city clean. About 443 metric tonnes of extra solid waste accumulated over the five days of the festival.

According to the BMC, between November 7 and 11, 2026, the corporation collected and transported 36,445.06 metric tonnes of solid waste in 6,787 vehicle trips. This is about 443 metric tonnes more than the estimate for five days based on the average daily waste collected in October.

In October, an average of 7,200.40 metric tonnes of waste was collected daily. At that average, about 36,002 metric tonnes was expected to be lifted in five days.

The most waste in this period was lifted on November 7. That day, 7,810.26 metric tonnes was transported in 1,399 trips, about 610 metric tonnes more than the daily average.

The corporation said special attention was paid to promptly removing firecracker waste, gift boxes, packing material and other festival-related refuse from roads, markets, residential areas and public places.

The BMC said that through the festival period, road sweeping, door-to-door garbage collection, cleaning of garbage-prone spots and delivery of collected waste to designated centres continued.

Sanitation workers, sweepers, drivers, helpers, supervisors and all staff involved in lifting and transporting waste were on duty even as people celebrated the festival. The BMC praised the contribution of its sanitation staff in keeping the city clean during Diwali.

The corporation said the extra waste collected over the five days reflects the increase in garbage during the festival and the effort of the cleaning teams.

The BMC has appealed to people to segregate their waste and hand it over only to authorised waste workers. Citizens have also been asked not to throw or burn garbage in public places.

The BMC is also redeveloping 146 sanitation workers' colonies across Mumbai in phases, so that workers get better living space. Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that under the project, workers will get 300 sq ft homes in place of their current 150 sq ft ones. The corporation aims to provide service housing to all its 29,000 sanitation workers.