Solid waste management in Indian Himalayan tourists' treks: a case study in and around the Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib

Solid waste generation in sensitive tourist areas of the Indian Himalayan region is approaching that of some metro cities of the country. The present study showed approximately 288 g waste generation visitor(-1) day(-1) compared with the nation-wide average of 350 g capita(-1) day(-1). About 29 metric tonnes (MT) solid waste is generated along a distance of about 19-km trek (a stretch of land or distance between two or more places covered by a walk) during a 4-month tourist season every year. Treks and trek stalls are the two major places where the visitors generate solid waste. Waste estimated from stalls accounted for about 51% by weight of the total waste generation in the trekking region. The native villagers generally construct stalls every year to meet the requirement of visitors going to Valley of Flowers (VOF) and Hemkund Sahib. The average annual results of 2 years (or equivalent to the average of one, 4-month tourist season for the region) showed non-biodegradable waste (NBW) to be 96.3% by weight whereas biodegradable waste (BW) amounted to merely 3.7%. From management point of view of the government, 96% NBW could easily be reused and recycled. Nevertheless, the need is to manage this waste by bringing it from the trekking areas to the road head (Govind Ghat) first and then to transport it to adjacent recycling centers. Cold drink glass bottles (68%), plastic (26%) and metal (2%) were the major items contributing to non-biodegradable waste. The remaining organic waste could be used as feedstock for composting. A well coordinated effort of public participation is necessary at all the levels for managing waste. There is a need to educate the visitors to instill in them the habit of considering discarded waste as potentially valuable and manageable.