2023-08-23
Location: Chandrabhaga Rishikesh
Date: 2021-08-01
Joining hands with Healing Himalayas to clean-up one of the largest dumpsites in Rishikesh!
Our team joined hands with Healing Himalayas to take an initiative towards cleaning one of the largest dumpsites in Rishikesh. Located on the banks of the Chandrabhaga river, this blackspot is used by the residents of the Kumhar Bada region of Ward 5 and some commercial establishments on the main road for open dumping of waste generated at their premises.
A lot of mixed waste thrown at the site flows into river Ganga due to the monsoon season. Residents living around Chandrabhaga own livestock, and as a result, the site is dumped with large amounts of fecal matter along with unrecoverable waste disposed of from households.
A total of 29 volunteers participated in the clean-up drive and collected 1500 kg of dry waste! The volunteers were highly motivated throughout the clean-up and were able to spread awareness of the harmful effects of open dumping. A large crowd gathered around the site and they were reached out by our team to visit our awareness stall and to know about the importance of segregating waste at source. Our volunteers came from an interesting mix of local NGOs and youth groups functional in Rishikesh like Believe in Smiles Foundation and Sparsh Ganga. We also had the support of the Nagar Nigam staff and dedicated volunteers from the Healing Himalayas.
This clean-up drive initiated one of the most required negotiations with the Nagar Nigam i.e. towards the transformation of the dumpsite into a recreational space. Our team was successful at bringing about conversations around waste management and the preservation of natural resources. The Nagar Nigam staff actively participated in these discussions and together we were able to rethink the solutions to reduce plastic waste in Ganga.
Through these clean-up drives, our team reaches out to different stakeholders in the community and makes efforts to build awareness and encourage change in the behavioral patterns of the community on waste management.
