Written by Pranav Narang
To mark their 25th anniversary, Divya Prem Seva Mission organised a 3-day event from 26th – 28th March which was attended by the President of India, S

Haridwar is a religious town in Uttarakhand famous for its dharma shala and Bhandara (Bhandara are free meals served to people invited to a temple). Divya Prem Seva Mission, also known as ‘Seva Kunj’ is one of the prominent trusts in Haridwar which has been working in Haridwar for the last 2 decades for the welfare of leprosy patients through education and health care systems. To mark their 25th anniversary, Divya Prem Seva Mission organized a 3-day event from 26th – 28th March which was attended by the President of India, Shri Ramnath Kovind, Governor of Uttarakhand, Shri Gurmit Singh, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami and famous yoga guru, Baba Ramdev among others.

As part of Aviral, a project powered by Alliance to End Plastic Waste, and being implemented by GIZ with the support of Saahas and Waste Warrior Society, guidelines for the management of waste at public events have been developed. This event provided a good opportunity to implement the event waste management guidelines, divert the waste generated at the event from the landfill, build capacities of the Divya Prema Seva Mission team and bring good waste management practices to the notice of the high profile dignitaries attending the event.

Volunteers from a local NGO Believe in Smiles were trained, eye-catching posters on source segregation were placed at various places and labeled bins to handle the different waste streams were placed at multiple locations. Source segregation was ensured by manning bins by volunteers and requesting guests to drop their used plates, spoons, cups, and leftover food in separate bins. The waste from the event was diverted to waste processing facilities in the city.