Concern over poor waste mgmt in hills

Palampur, November 30

Various groups, NGOs, local bodies, municipal corporation and panchayats have expressed grave concern over large-scale environmental degradation of hills.

They say hill stations in Himachal are brimming with garbage as tourists have utter disregard for waste management.

Munish Dixit, speaking on behalf of these NGOs, said today that NGOs working for the protection of environment in the state had launched a campaign, “How to protect hills from plastic waste”. “Himachal Pradesh generates around 500 tonnes of waste every day during the peak tourist season as scores of tourists throng different tourist spots. This huge number of waste is mind-boggling,” he said.

Experts and social bodies are concerned about the poor waste management in the hill state and the apathetic attitude of the authorities. They said the menace could not be checked without the active support of the Deputy Commissioners and SDMs.