‘What we are leaving behind in hills’: IFS officer shares photo of trash near Atal Tunnel village
The officer highlighted the influx of thousands of vehicles passing through the Atal Tunnel and questioned the responsibility of visitors.
During the bustling New Year rush in Himachal Pradesh's hill state, a mound of waste was observed in a village near the Atal Tunnel. As tourists flooded popular destinations like Manali and Shimla, traffic jams became unprecedented in these areas.
Indian Forest Service officer Praveen Kaswan took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday – New Year's Eve – to share an image displaying the piled-up trash in Sissu, a small town within Lahaul Valley, situated approximately 40 km from Manali. Kaswan highlighted the influx of thousands of vehicles passing through the Atal Tunnel and questioned the responsibility of visitors in managing their waste, tagging ‘Healing Himalayas’ founder Pradeep Sangwan. This organisation is dedicated to clearing the Himalayas of tourist-generated waste.
“What we are leaving behind in hills !! This is village Sissu - once you cross Atal tunnel the first two villages are Sissu & Khoksar. Now thousands of vehicles are entering Atal tunnel everyday. Aren’t people supposed to take their trashes back!!” Kaswan, known for frequently sharing nature-related images, expressed concern.
The ‘Healing Himalayas’ founder echoed the sentiment, posting the same image on their X account and saying, “Close to 10000 vehicles entered Atal tunnel during long weekend. Two small villages Sissu & Khoksar currently enjoying the max benefit but the amount of trash left behind is a cause of concern. Unless & until as a community if we aren’t worried nothing is going to change. Our waste management facility in the village Khoksar will be operational from mid April 2024. Hoping for a collaborative approach.”
Responding to Kaswan's post about littering in the Himalayas, the founder mentioned,“We have built our material recovery facility in village Khoksar to handle solid waste. It will be operational from April & hopefully we will be able to streamline it by mid September. The only issue after that will be littering & it’s collection. Fragile ecosystem needs different approach compared to rest of the world.”
The foundation has established five material recovery facilities in Himachal Pradesh for their mission and was mentioned during one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ‘Mann Ki Baat’ edition.
New Year rush in Himachal Pradesh
Tourists are flocking to the hills of Himachal Pradesh for the winter carnival and New Year festivities, drawn by the delightful weather and clear skies. According to a senior police officer, Shimla welcomed around 150,000 visitors on Christmas, and anticipates between 80,000 to 100,000 tourists for the upcoming New Year celebrations. Videos shared by news agencies, including PTI and ANI, depicted the bustling scenes: tourists gathering at popular spots like Kufri for New Year's celebrations, while authorities in Lahaul and Spiti conducted drone surveillance due to the substantial influx of visitors during this period.
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