As summer tourism surges, waste generation starts mounting in hills

DEHRADUN: With the summer vacations and the ongoing Char Dham yatra, tourist footfall has dramatically increased in the hills, bringing with it an old problem: Surging waste generation in limited spaces, which local authorities struggle to put away.
The Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board estimates waste generation in the state to be around 1,500 tonne per day, which goes up significantly during the tourist and yatra season.Apart from popular destinations like Mussoorie and Nainital, relatively remote ones like Mukteshwar and Harsil can be found strewn with waste at this time of the year.

In some cases, locals take it on themselves to manage the increased trash. In Mukteshwar and Sheetla, resort owners route garbage to Haldwani. In Kasar Devi, Almora, the hotels' association and the local panchayat dispose of waste.
Uttarkashi, home to picturesque tourist towns like Harsil, Lakhamandal and famous treks like Dayara Bugyal, generates around 20 tonnes of waste daily during the tourist season (double of what it usually generates).
As tourism picked up in the Adi Kailash and Parvati Kund areas of Pithoragarh after 2020, locals formed the Adi Kailash Vikas Samiti specifically for waste management. Ranikhet generates more than 500 tonne garbage daily during the tourist season, nearly double the usual amount.
Bhowali municipality, home to the renowned Baba Neem Karoli Ashram, Kainchi Dham, waste collection is estimated to be two tonne per day. Nainital normally generates around 20 tonnes of waste daily but it goes up to 35 tonnes in the tourist season.
The waste generation in Dehradun, which is around 350-400 metric tonnes (MT) of waste daily, goes up by at least 100 tonnes during peak tourist season. The garbage ends up at the Sheeshambara trenching ground, where residents have been protesting about pollution and health risks.
In Mussoorie, the Mussoorie Municipal Council (MMC) has tasked KEEN, an NGO, to collect door-to-door garbage. Ashok Kumar, coordinator of KEEN, said, "Mussoorie usually generates 15 to 18 MT waste daily usually and around 20 MT during tourist season. We are taking steps to process it effectively. "