Garbage — from plastic to human waste — generated during 55-day Amarnath pilgrimage threatens Himalayan environment

Every summer for two months, hundreds of thousands of devout Hindus, some chanting hymns, trek high into the Himalayas in Indian-administered Kashmir in a gruelling pilgrimage to a cave shrine.

Surrounded by clouds and 3,800 metres above sea level, the Amarnath shrine is one of Hinduism?s most revered sites. But the debris left behind is anything but sacred.

By the end of the 55-day pilgrimage season, rubbish, including plastic bottles and bags, as well as human waste, can be found strewn across the mountain trails that wind through the fragile Himalayan environment.

Some of the rubbish falls into melted glaciers rushing through the valleys, threatening a vital source of drinking water for thousands of people who live downstream, experts said.

There are more than 53 glaciers in that area.  

Huge quantities of fecal matter and waste generated from the many eateries directly finds its way into the water bodies, deteriorating the water quality.

Pilgrims from across the globe visit the Amarnath shrine to view its remarkable natural ice formation, worshipped as a symbol of Shiva, the deity of destruction. Hindus believe it was in the cave that Shiva revealed the secrets of life and immortality to his consort Parvati.

The sacred stalagmite appears each year in the cave — although it often melts away before the annual pilgrimage ends. All difficulties and worries vanish by visiting this place. That is why everyone comes here. This place is special because here Shiva narrated the eternal story to Parvati .

More than 350,000 pilgrims hiked to the cave this season, which ended on August 21.

Environmentalists say a cap should be placed on the annual number of pilgrims and the season shortened to limit any environmental damage. Any visits to Amarnath cave have to be strictly controlled as per the carrying capacity of the area.

Some of the pilgrims, who can afford it, take a helicopter from the twin base camps in Sonmarg and Pahalgam — two popular tourist destinations in the region.

But the chopper rides, along with the body heat of thousands of pilgrims, are adding to environmental concerns. Both are blamed for speeding up melting of the nearby glaciers in the ecologically sensitive area.

On any given day during the pilgrimage about 30,000 people, emitting radiation at 37 degrees Celsius, are in the vicinity hastening the melting of these glaciers

Many pilgrims also defecate in the open near the glacier-fed streams whilst temporary food shacks generate mounds more waste.

Authorities say hundreds of temporary pre-fabricated toilets are set up every year all along the two tracks leading to the shrine, but only a few are biodegradable ones, that can ensure waste does not reach the streams.

Source : Gulf News