TURNING OF TOURIST PLACES INTO GARBAGE DUMP YARD - Drashti Panjrolia

TURNING OF TOURIST PLACES INTO GARBAGE DUMP YARD

Whenever we visit any place around India or any other part of world , We see a lot of FMCG packets and wastes around. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that 4.8 million tonnes, 14 per cent of all solid waste, is produced each year solely by tourists.Now let us talk about some of the major tourist attraction places in our country because that's where we live! 

1. MANALI,HIMACHAL PRADESH

According to Times of India, over 10 lakh tourists are reported to have had their escapade in the beautiful tourist destination generating almost 30 to 40 tonnes of waste every day that has resulted to 2,000 tonnes of waste during their visit to Manali in just the two months of May and June the previous year. The Atal Tunnel on the Manali-Leh Highway was converted into garbage dump merely after 2 weeks of its inauguration.

•Thanks to the locals and garbage disposal team who constantly cleaned the mess generated by irresponsible tourists. 

2. TAJ MAHAL

Hindustani Biradari Vice Chairman Vishal Sharma told India Today that Agra and Mathura are tourist cities and hundreds of tourists are coming to visit the Taj Mahal every day. The tourists have to navigate their way to the Taj through heaps of garbage. It does not portray a good image of Agra or Uttar Pradesh.

3. GOA

According to The Times of India, Goa with its 101km of coastline that attracts tourists for its sun and sand has a dubious distinction of throwing upto 41kg of beach litter per head, the highest in the country, with every square metre of the beach sand containing 25.5gm of plastic waste and 68gm of glass bottles, mostly of alcoholic beverages. All thanks to irresponsible tourists. 

4. AMRITSAR

According to the Hindustan Times, "Home to Golden Temple, Amritsar is one of the most visited places in the world but among the filthiest big cities in the country. The recent Swachh Survekshan rankings showed it slipped from 184th rank last year to 236th position in 2020."

5. HOWRAH BRIDGE,KOLKATA

Kolkata that starts from Howrah subway; which is the gateway of Kolkata. Kolkata is considered as the cultural capital of the nation and is also known for its passion for sweets. Every single space in this city is occupied. Buses are scattered everywhere, there is no particular channel for special buses. Howrah is more like Kolkata's dirty backyard. The narrow lanes lined by old buildings, open overflowing drain, heaps of garbage rotting on the streets this makes Howrah look more like a vast and putrefying slum.

6. MUMBAI

Marine Drive is a major attraction for Mumbaikars and Indians. However, recently the city of Mumbai woke up to tonnes of rotten garbage lying on the Marine Drive road. Needless to say, it was all the litter that we tossed in the sea and other water bodies. Now, the civil authorities have their work cut out, to clean up the huge mess that has become a civic nuisance.

7.NATIONAL CAPITAL , DELHI

According to The Hindustan Times, "About 78% Delhiites dumps garbage on the roadside or in open plots in their neighbourhoods and 17% claim to have no access to a community dump or dhalao in north Delhi, a survey co-researched by Chintan, the Delhi environment department and German NGO GIZ has revealed." And of course, we tourists wont walk 2 feet to throw the garbage in the dustbin!

8. RAJASTHAN

Despite being one of the top tourist destinations in India, Rajasthan is slipping in India's cleanliness index.One out of three foreign tourists who come to India also visits Rajasthan. Its capital Jaipur, famous as the Pink City for its rose-hued sandstone structures, is among the ten most visited cities in the country. But Jaipur came in at an abysmal 370 out of the 476 cities surveyed in the country for the Swachh Bharat Rankings.Udaipur another tourists hotspot famous for it's lake and hotels, did even worse at 417 while home of the majestic Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur, came at 337.But the worst of the lot was Chittorgarh, where hundreds of tourists go to see the historic Chittor Fort, is sixth last in the list ( Source: NDTV) 

9. HYDERABAD

HolidayIQ Traveller Devdas Pai said, “Charminar is a good monument with dirty management, measures must be taken to keep it clean as it is our heritage and needs maintenance of the surroundings. Charminar is very clean but the surrounding area is very dirty and unhygienic, just watch it and come out.”

10. VARANASI

We all know the situation of Ganga river.Dumping waste in the Ganga river, the temple town of Varanasi will now result in paying a hefty fine. The Varanasi district administration has decided to slap a fine of Rs 50,000 if anyone is found dumping waste into the river repeatedly on three occasions. But the question is ," Are we as citizens of India so irresponsible that we can't even keep our country clean without the fear of fines?"

CONCLUSION

When you travel, even a small peanut seller earns. When you travel you make memories and learn new things. A lot of employment generation depends upon tourism. When you make tourist places dirty, people would stop visiting such dirty places. Then I must say you are one of the reasons for unemployment in our country. Why are we so irresponsible? Why can't we follow our duty without any fines? If you are reading this; let's pledge today to travel without generating wastes. Let's pledge today to walk to the dustbin. Let's pledge to avoid throwing wastes into the rivers. Let's pledge to make our country a better place. Let's not compare ourselves with any other  countries. Let's make ourselves better. The authorities and locals are trying to clean the mess.We as responsible citizens should also add a helping hand in this process. 77.7% of citizens of India are literate ; let's behave like educated citizens because as a wise man once said ,"Education is not what you learn in school but it's what that remains with you when you leave the school."

- Drashti Panjrolia

Note: The work is collected from various sources and due credit is given to the  respected sources. The work is originally collected by the author. The author does not claim over the images.