Despite talk of environmental conservation and importance of sanitation, Deepawali celebrations in Haridwar resulted in a considerable rise in the quantity of garbage generated in the city. According to officials, the garbage saw considerable rise due to the festivities.
The Haridwar municipal commissioner Uday Singh Rana said that generally, about 150 metric tonnes of solid municipal waste is generated daily in Haridwar. However, the Deepawali celebrations resulted in generation of about 230 metric tonnes of garbage in the city.
It is pertinent to mention here that the municipal corporation of Haridwar has like other urban local bodies in the State, stepped up focus on and efforts for maintaining the desired level of civic sanitation. Apart from raising public awareness on the need to dispose garbage properly and maintain the desired level of sanitation, special occasions continue to result in generation of considerably more garbage and littering in public spaces. A day after Deepawali, various roads and localities in the city were littered with remains of burst fireworks and other garbage.
It is also worth mentioning here that being situated on the banks of the Ganga, Haridwar is more important from the sanitation point of view as garbage not disposed of properly may end up in the Ganga river.