Haridwar Fights Back Against 7,000 Metric Tonnes of Waste After Record-breaking Kanwar Yatra

 In response to an unprecedented waste problem following the recently completed Kanwar Yatra which ended on August 11, Haridwar civic administration is scrambling to get rid of approximately 7,000 metric tonnes of garbage that have been dumped around the holy city. The state's chief minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, informed that this year about 5 crore (50 million) devotees had attended the Kanwar Yatra in Haridwar in order to fetch the holy water from the Ganges.

Almost 2,000 metric tonnes of waste material was produced in merely two days alone, as a staggering number of 48 million people attended the event. According to Haridwar Municipal Commissioner Nandan Kumar, a company that normally disposes of 250 metric tonnes of waste each day is now facing huge piles of thrown out clothes, plastic water bottles and other waste material.

It is quite apparent how big the mess was from the pictures of Har Ki Pauri, which is a famous ghat in the city of Haridwar. Not only was there huge amount of trash everywhere, but plastic bottles of urine were also found being dumped by visitors in the changing rooms.

Over 1,100 sanitation workers along with 80 vehicles have now been used in the major drive undertaken for cleaning the garbage dump, with experts warning of the possibility of this waste leading to pollution of the river Ganga and increasing risks of diseases. Garbage consisting of old clothes formed a number of tons of this pile, and plans to segregate this part of the pile for reuse have been made. The problem was not limited to the Haridwar area – Gangotri of Uttarkashi, which is visited by some 57,000 people during Sawan, has had similar problems.

Frustration and dissatisfaction have been expressed by locals. As one local citizen put it, it was quite unfortunate that despite traveling far away from their homes to worship the river Ganga, pilgrims leave behind waste on its banks.