New Delhi: Amid the New Year rush in Himachal Pradesh, a garbage pile-up was observed near the Atal tunnel. Plastic bags and bottles were seen piled up near the tunnel that connects Manali with the Lahaul-Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh.
Ahead of New Year's Eve, popular holiday destinations like Shimla and Manali witnessed unprecedented traffic jams as thousands of tourists flocked to the hill stations to welcome the new year.
Indian Forest Service officer Praveen Kaswan took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday to share an image displaying the trash from near Sissu and Khokar villages.
“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 posted.
The ‘Healing Himalayas’ founder posted the same image on their X account and said, “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, the founder wrote, “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.”