Trekkers collect 2,127kg of waste at Roopkund in Himalayas

Around 700 trekkers collected a whopping 2,127 kilogram of waste, over the months of May and June, during their trek. The waste collected and segregated was brought back to the base camp and transported to an NGO, Waste Warriors, for recycling and safe dumping in Dehradun.

The initiative started in 2013 when a trekkers community, Indiahikes, noticed garbage piling on the mountains. The organisation's founders Arjun Majumdar and Sandhya UC began 'Green Trails' to start the cleaning of Roopkund — one of the most beautiful trails in the Himalayas. The members started with a survey on the population of trekkers in the valley each year, interacted with locals and studied the waste management system of the valley.

"The group grew to be known as Green Trails and we continued with such treks since then. Every trek, small and big, does have a clean up conducted but Roopkund is always important. We have around 25 members going every year with eco bags to collect as much garbage and waste as possible. This year we collected waste in a total of 266 bags, amounting to 2,127 kilo grams of waste," said Izzat Ansari (46), based in Bengaluru and a member of Green Trails.

With the demand for adventure sports and activities going up, the number of trekkers has increased in the last few years. "This year we were able to collect this amount of waste because the generation has increased. We had an excellent team and the locals helped us too," added Ansari.

In the 53km trek, small dhabas and camp sites are the hot spots of finding dumped waste. Plastics, paper, leftover food, bones, thermocol and packing material are a few things often piled up.

"We collected 70kg waste from the backyard of a small dhaba. Trekkers come and throw waste irresponsibly. Though it was my first time with Green trails working on the ground has changed my perspective towards environment and its conservation. Looking at the amount of waste in the valleys and the loss of nature, I have learnt a lesson of not littering and using environment-friendly practices back home," said Siddesh Raban (29), who works in an IT firm.

Not just collecting waste but a behavioural conduct in trek groups is a must to maintain cleanliness in the group. As per Green Trails, trek groups should plan well to carry material not causing harm to the environment, hold discussions on the same with trekkers and educate other groups on the same trail.

"We were asked to keep away from alcohol and smoking, harming any biodiversity and avoid wastage of natural resources like water. Within the group there was a sense of discipline and respect for the environment around us," informed Devashish Guruji (28), a regular trekker who runs a graphic design studio in Mumbai.

Though there are several rules and regulations against causing harm to the ecosystem in these mountains, a lack of implementation has led to increasing pollution in the trek routes. Involvement of locals and initiatives like Green Trails along with the forest department can help in reducing destruction of natural resources in the mountains.