Disgraceful! Tourists turn Manali into garbage dump, leave behind 2,000 tonnes of waste in two months

Manali, the tourist destination of India’s northern Himachal Pradesh state has become a garbage dump, all thanks to irresponsible tourists. With 2019 recorded as one of the hottest years in history, colder places such as that of Manali saw an up in the flocking of tourists to escape the heat. What is sad however is the hell they leave behind just as the hell they tried to escape from.

According to Times of India, over 10 lakh tourists are reported to have had their escapade in the beautiful tourist destination generating almost 30 to 40 tonnes of waste every day that has resulted to 2,000 tonnes of waste during their visit to Manali in just the two months of May and June.

Garbage collected from the Rohtang Pass and Solang till Manali including hotels are disposed at a garbage treatment facility. Despite plastic waste being sent to a Barmana cement plant for "complete destruction," large amounts of waste are piling up - Manali as well as other parts of the district are clogged.

Narayan Singh Verma, Municipal Council Executive Officer, Manali, told TOI that the work to resolve the issue is expected to start next week, "It is expected to start working by next week," he said, adding that the plant will solve most of the problems as soon as it starts working.

"Manali generates 35 tonnes of waste every day during peak tourist season while it produces nearly 10 tonnes of garbage on the other days. Once the plant starts working, all our waste-related problems would be solved. We generate less waste as compared to consumption capacity of the plant," Narayan Singh Verma added.

The garbage issue of Manali is just one among the many. Just recently, a total of 11,000 kg garbage were removed from the Mount Everest during a two-month long cleanliness drive conducted by the Nepal government on the world's highest mountain.