Workers clean up accumulated waste after the conclusion of the annual ‘Kanwar Yatra’, near ghat at Har Ki Pauri, in Haridwar, Uttarakhand on Thursday (August 13, 2026).
| Photo Credit: PTI
Haridwar administration has taken up a major clean-up drive to clear about 7,000 metric tonnes of waste left behind by kanwariyas across the city and in the Ganga ghats. Discarded clothes, slippers, plastic items and bottles reportedly filled with urine were found inside women’s changing rooms set up by the civic body at Har Ki Pauri, a sacred ghat for Hindus.
About 50 million pilgrims had undertaken the 12-day Kanwar Yatra.
Municipal Commissioner Nandan Kumar told The Hindu that around 1,700 metric tonnes of waste had accumulated across the city in the last two days of the yatra.
“The city generates around 200-250 metric tonnes of garbage in a day. This additional 7,000 metric tonnes is extra work for us to segregate and decompose. For this, we have launched a special clean-up drive from August 12 to 18, deploying around 1,000 additional sanitation workers and more than 80 vehicles. Cleaning teams are working round the clock, with the ghats being given priority,” he said.
On the finding of urine-filled bottles inside women’s changing rooms, Mr. Kumar said the act was likely carried out by anti-social elements, as the civic body had set up both permanent and temporary toilets across the city, along the Kanwar route and in the ghats.
“This was a shocker for us as the changing rooms are meant only for women. We are trying to analyse CCTV footage around the ghats to identify who did this and are also considering what action can be taken to prevent such acts in future,” he added.
Nitin Gautam, president of Shri Ganga Sabha, an organisation that manages religious activities in various ghats in Haridwar, also expressed concern over the accumulation of waste in the Ganga ghats during the Kanwar Yatra.
Mr. Gautam said the organisation planned to launch an awareness campaign next year to discourage pilgrims from leaving waste and bottles in the ghats.
“From next year, we plan to launch an awareness campaign to discourage pilgrims from leaving waste and bottles in the ghats. We will ask the kanwariyas to ensure that no anti-social elements join their groups, as such acts as leaving human excreta and urine in the Ganga ghats hurt the religious sentiments of devotees,” he said.
Har Ki Pauri is regarded as the place where the Ganga emerges from the mountains and enters the plains and is considered one of Haridwar’s most important religious sites.
Published – August 13, 2026 08:01 pm IST
