New Delhi: Haridwar authorities have started a large-scale operation to remove more than 7,000 tonnes of garbage generated during the two-week Kanwar Yatra.
Nearly 48 million pilgrims visited the holy city this year, the highest number recorded so far.
Plastic, discarded clothes, Kanwars and non-degradable polythene remain scattered across the city. Ganga ghats, markets, parking areas and roads connecting Haridwar with national highways are among the worst-affected places.
Hundreds of workers began clearing the waste after the pilgrims left the city following the Shravan Shivratri Ganga Aarti.
Condition of Haridwar due to Kanwar yatris 🤦🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/pR7x63f4gm
— radha (@radhaa147) August 12, 2026
Waste removal underway
“Approximately 7000 tonnes of garbage was generated during the two weeks of Kanwar yatra. It is being cleared since Tuesday evening, as Kanwariyas started leaving the city for their respective destinations after the Shravan Shivratri Ganga Aarti. Sanitation workers have been deployed in groups around Har-ki-Pauri and the Mela,” municipal corporation town commissioner Nandan Kumar said.
Officials said discarded clothes alone accounted for several metric tonnes of waste. The authorities plan to recycle them.
Mega cleanliness drive
The district administration has launched a mega cleanliness campaign from August 12 to 18 to restore the affected areas to their pre-Yatra condition. Civic bodies have deployed more than 1,000 sanitation personnel, 100 outsourced workers and 80 waste collection and transportation vehicles.
“While civic agencies are already involved in the clearance, it is vital that local residents, the saint community, religious organisations, educational institutions, volunteers and traders also participate,” Haridwar Chief Development Officer Lalit Narayan Mishra said. Officials are monitoring the clean-up both at the sites and online to ensure that the waste is removed within the deadline.
Pollution concerns rise
Environmental experts warned that rain could wash plastic, sewage and other waste into the Ganga if authorities failed to remove it quickly. “The risk of microplastics being absorbed also remains a major concern. The use of plastic sheets, bottles and cans and the dumping of clothes and bamboo in the Ganga should either be discouraged or prohibited,” said Gagan Matta, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Science at Gurukula Kangri University.
The Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad has also supported the campaign. Its members will join the clean-up effort. Ganga Sabha volunteers have started clearing Har-ki-Pauri before the evening Ganga Aarti to prevent inconvenience to devotees.
