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Today is World Environment Day Dehra Dun, June 4 The wild flowers which used to grow in the area had stopped blooming due to accumulation of garbage in the shape of plastic bags, bottles, rain coats, empty packets and other non-degradable garbage waste littered by more than six lakh Sikh pilgrims who visit the shrine every year for five months during summers. The initiative to clean up and restore the area's ecology through community participation was the brainchild of Jyotsna Sitling, a young Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer from Northeast, and the then director of the Biosphere Reserve. Known for her intervention in up scaling community participation, Jyotsna has a unique record of eco-restoration work in the Doon valley as well. She is receiving the nation's highest award in the field of environment, Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Purskar on June 5, 2007, in recognition of her outstanding contribution in the field of environmental conservation. To be given by the Vice-President of India, it carries a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh, silver lotus and a citation. Her zeal to rid the buffer zone of non-biodegradable waste in this innovative way is regarded as an example for her bureaucratic colleagues working in the same field.Talking to The Tribune over phone from Delhi, she recalled, “It was difficult to motivate people for such unproductive work but since I am a firm believer that nothing can change without active participation. So a persistently close interaction with the community along with some incentives, worked without costing a penny to the government,” The eco-development committee (EDC) formed by her comprising locals, hired people to collect garbage on a salary of Rs 1000 per month with additional incentive of Rs 5 per bag of garbage. Working tirelessly for more than a year, a total of 44 tones of garbage were collected in 14,000 bags. The garbage was then transported from Hemkund Sahib on horse back to Govindghat and then sent to Delhi for recycling. Another big problem was the removal of huge quantity of mule dung. On an average, 500 mules daily go up and down the stretch littering the entire area during five summer months of the pilgrimage. “We also managed to collect mule dung for its scientific disposal,” she added. Through close community interaction, Jyotsna, whose forte is systems development, managed to persuade the entire business population comprising 76 families to have only 76 shops instead of more than 400 shacks for better management of the ecologically fragile area. The shops in a group of six to ten were set up on the entire stretch with proper facilities. “This not only cleaned up the area but also raised our seasonal income by more than 1 lakh rupees,” said Gagan Singh Rawat, a local shopkeeper.
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