Author: Pallavi Bhagat
After a record 40 million Shiva worshippers visited the holy city for the yearly Kanwar Yatra to harvest the Ganga waters, authorities in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar were working extra hard to clear nearly 30,000 tonnes of garbage that had accumulated there. A 42-km length of Kanwar from Har-ki-Pauri was covered in garbage, including the Ganga Ghats, marketplaces, parking spaces, and highways.
According to reports, the officials have estimated that it may take them a few weeks to thoroughly clean the city. The municipal town commissioner Dayanand Saraswati told the media that the cleaning operation began on Saturday and is still ongoing, stating, “The Ganga ghats, roads, bridges, parking lots, and a temporary bus terminal are being cleaned round-the-clock. To complete the time-sensitive cleaning, we have boosted the workforce to 600. Additionally, we have begun fogging and spraying pesticides throughout the mela region.
The amount of garbage produced in Haridwar typically ranges between 200 and 300 metric tonnes, but during events like Kanwar Yatra, it can reach 500 to 2000 tonnes. Millions of pilgrims gather from the Ganga River’s holy waters on this journey from locations including Haridwar, Rishikesh, and Gomukh. These gathered waters usually end up in respected Shiva temples in the area.
Additionally, a week-long rainstorm that fell during the Kanwar Yatra seriously hampered the rubbish collection and disposal process. The Haridwar Municipal Corporation has added 40 more waste disposal trucks to its fleet, bringing the total number of service vehicles to 140 to combat this. Along with hundreds of other police officers, senior police superintendent Ajay Singh participated in a clean-up effort yesterday at Haridwar’s Vishnu Ghat.
