Friday, 05 May 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Nearly 30 quintals of garbage generated daily at Kedarnath in Rudraprayag district during the ongoing Char Dham Yatra is being segregated into five categories to ensure its proper disposal as per the rules, said assistant director of urban development directorate (UDD) Vinod Kumar. He said that this quantity of garbage is being generated daily from the stretch between the Kedarnath temple area and Ghoda Padav which is the base camp where pilgrims install tents.
Kumar told The Pioneer that various kinds of garbage including single-use plastic, multilayer plastic like wrappers of candies and snacks, and damaged footwear which are left by pilgrims in considerable numbers are being segregated in two segregation centres set up there for effective waste management. “The sanitation team segregates at least two to three quintals of plastic waste on a daily basis. Single-use plastic is banned as per the law considering which, we have issued directions to local eateries and shops to comply with the law. We have conducted two meetings with local shopkeepers on how they must ensure sanitation around their surroundings too as per the Solid Waste Management Rules Act 2016 and Uttarakhand Anti-Littering and Anti-Spitting Act. We will also take action by imposing penalties on violations of these rules,” said Kumar. He said that the daily garbage generation came down to around 15 to 20 quintals due to decline in the number of pilgrims in the recent days due to inclement weather. He claimed that despite unfavourable weather conditions, the sanitation team in Kedarnath is successfully maintaining sanitation by collecting and segregating garbage to ensure proper disposal.
He said, “Most of the garbage generated daily includes wet organic waste like leftover food which we bury in large pits for composting. A machine is also installed here that compresses plastic waste to reduce its volume to make its storage and transportation easy. We have presently collected the plastic waste in segregation centres which will soon be sent to agencies for recycling via Sonprayag as soon as weather conditions improve here.”
Kumar also said that around 90 toilet seats have been made available in the area for pilgrims through temporary toilets which will be soon increased by nearly 50 seats. “There is a thick layer of snow which has currently made the process of setting up temporary toilets quite difficult. However, the number of toilets will certainly be increased as per the rise in the number of pilgrims,” he added.
