The conclusion of the Kanwar Yatra has left Haridwar facing a massive sanitation challenge, with authorities shifting at least 7,000 tonnes of garbage to dumping grounds after millions of pilgrims departed the holy city. Nearly five crore devotees visited Haridwar during the Sawan season to collect water from the Ganga. Once the pilgrimage ended after Shivratri, sanitation workers were confronted with large quantities of waste scattered across ghats, roads, parking areas and other public spaces. Plastic waste, discarded clothes, bottles and abandoned Kanwar structures were among the items found across the pilgrimage routes and riverfront areas. Har ki Pauri, one of Haridwar's most prominent and heavily visited ghats, was also affected.
Videos from the city showed an especially disturbing sanitation problem inside changing rooms, where bottles containing urine had allegedly been abandoned. Sanitation workers were seen removing the bottles using shovels, reportedly without protective gloves or masks. The condition of the ghats has triggered concern among residents, with questions being raised over how such large-scale littering could take place at sites considered sacred by the pilgrims themselves.
Haridwar Municipal Commissioner Nandan Kumar said sanitation teams worked through the night following Shivratri to clear the ghats, parking spaces and roads. Authorities said at least 7,000 tonnes of garbage had already been transported to dumping grounds as part of the post-Yatra clean-up operation. The enormous volume of waste has placed additional pressure on the city's sanitation machinery after it handled the huge influx of pilgrims during the annual religious gathering.
The environmental challenge was not confined to Haridwar. Pilgrims also travelled towards the upper reaches of Uttarakhand to collect Ganga water, leaving waste behind in ecologically sensitive areas. Around 57,000 pilgrims visited Gangotri in Uttarkashi during Sawan. Despite the area being designated a plastic-free zone, discarded plastic, clothes and other waste were found after the pilgrimage.
The accumulation of plastic and other material in the Himalayan region has raised concerns over its possible impact on forests, wildlife and the fragile mountain ecosystem. Following the Yatra, the Forest Department launched a special cleanliness campaign in Gangotri. Officials collected 57 sacks of waste for disposal during the drive. The scale of the garbage left behind has again highlighted the difficulties authorities face in managing waste during mass religious gatherings. While the Kanwar Yatra brings millions of devotees to Uttarakhand every year, the post-pilgrimage clean-up has emerged as a major civic and environmental challenge, particularly in areas close to the Ganga and in the environmentally vulnerable Himalayan belt.