Haridwar littered with 30,000-tonne garbage as Kanwar Yatra concludes

Authorities were working overtime to clear about 30,000-tonne garbage piled up in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar after a record 40 million Shiva devotees visited the holy city for the annual Kanwar Yatra to fetch the Ganga waters.

Ganga Ghats, markets, parking lots, and roads were littered with garbage over a 42-km Kanwar stretch from Har-ki-Pauri.

Authorities said they were trying to remove the waste but it may take weeks to fully clean the holy city. Municipal town commissioner Dayanand Saraswati said the cleaning of the garbage and waste began on Saturday. “Round-the-clock cleaning of the Ganga ghats, roads, bridges, parking lots, and a temporary bus stand is being carried out. We have increased the number of workers to 600 for the time-bound cleaning. We have also started spraying insecticides and fogging in the mela area,” said Saraswati.

Officials said normally 200-300 metric tonnes of waste is generated daily in Haridwar, which increases to 500-2000 tonnes during the Kanwar Yatra and other festivals.

Millions of devotees undertake the annual Kanwar Yatra to fetch the holy waters of the Ganga from places such as Haridwar, Rishikesh, and Gomukh. They carry the waters on their shoulders for offerings at local Śhiva temples.

Officials said a seven-day rainy spell during the Kanwar Yatra also affected garbage collection and disposal. The Haridwar Municipal Corporation has pressed 40 additional garbage ferrying vehicles into service taking their number to 140.

Senior police superintendent Ajay Singh and hundreds of police personnel also carried out a cleaning drive at Haridwar’s Vishnu Ghat on Sunday.

Mahamandaleshwar Hari Chetnanand Maharaj of Udasin Akhada said a pilgrimage is not regarded as fully successful if a pilgrim pollutes the sacred Ganga, ghats, or places of worship. “In Vedic scriptures even staying at Har-ki-Pauri or near revered shrines is not considered appropriate as the sanctity of such holy places gets affected. Devotees should ensure they do not commit any such unreligious act.”

Ujjwal Pundit, another local priest, called for sensitising and generating awareness among pilgrims and tourists to ensure a clean Ganga and Haridwar.

Activist Anoop Nautiyal called for a multi-pronged approach to ensure over 40 million pilgrims do not pollute the sacred river and the holy place. “If such a huge amount of garbage is left at Ganga ghats, then it is a failure of local administration. …Segregation of garbage and waste material lying in the open amid rainy spells is impossible. So eventually it will go to landfill or dumping sites. Every year Kanwar pilgrimage is held so long-term planning is required…NGOs, experts on waste material management should also be roped in.”