'7,000 Tonnes': Two Weeks Of Kanwar Yatra Leaves Trail Of Garbage In Haridwar, Mega Cleanliness Drive Launched

Nearly 48 million pilgrims reached Haridwar within just two weeks of Kanwar Yatra, the highest footfall ever, leaving behind the administration scrambling to dispose of over 7,000 tonnes of garbage.

Heaps of garbage include plastic waste, wrappers and non-disposable polythene, clothes and Kanwars, the municipal officials said on Wednesday. According to a report by Hindustan Times, the worst-affected areas by this unregulated littering are the ghats on the Ganga river, markets, access roads and the designated parking areas for vehicles that reached the city as part of the processions.

The experts have stressed a need for swift disposal as a threat for pollution and diseases looms over the city, which remains packed with the pilgrims throughout the year.

Cleaning, disposal starts

The administration has launched a mega cleanliness drive from August 12 to 18 to reach pre-Kanwar Yatra levels. Over 1,000 sanitation workers and 100 outsourced workers have been deployed for the drive.

Moreover, 80 vehicles have also been deployed to clear the city waste.

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"Heaps of garbage and waste are lying at Ganga ghats, in the Kanwar Mela zone, along the Kanwar patri and throughout the pedestrian routes used by Kanwariyas to travel, rest and camp, as well as at vehicle parking areas," Lalit Narayan Mishra, chief development officer, said.

As per the report, the huge amount of trash would take days to be collected, transported to garbage collection centres before being disposed of eventually.

"Approximately 7,000 tonnes of garbage was generated during the two weeks of Kanwar yatra. It is being cleared since Tuesday evening, as Kanwariyas started leaving the city for their respective destinations after the Shravan Shivratri Ganga Aarti. Sanitation workers have been deployed in groups around Har-ki-Pauri and the Mela," Nandan Kumar, municipal corporation town commissioner, was quoted in the report as saying.

He added that waste collection and disposal is being carried out at several places like city markets, lanes, roads and parking lots on a war footing.

The discarded clothes amount to several metric tonnes of the total garbage. The administration would recycle them.

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Seers extend support

The Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, the apex body of recognised akhadas of seers, has extended support to the city administration's efforts. The Akhada Parishad has informed the administration that monks and office-bearers of various akhadas would participate in the cleanliness drive.

“Kanwar pilgrimage is an ancient tradition, and in recent years the number of Kanwariyas has crossed the four-crore mark, so waste generation is bound to increase manifold. We fully support the administration’s initiative to seek voluntary participation from individuals. By participating in this post-Kanwar cleanliness drive, people will also derive spiritual satisfaction as they will indirectly be helping clean Ganga and reduce pollution,” said Akhara Parishad president Mahant Ravindra Puri of Niranjani Akhada.