In a 1st, thousands of Kedarnath pilgrims bring back tonnes of trash from shrine
Thousands of pilgrims visiting the Kedarnath shrine are participating in a voluntary initiative to carry plastic waste back down the mountain. The 'Carry Me Back' campaign aims to address severe sanitation and waste management challenges caused by high visitor influx at the high-altitude site.
Why it matters
This initiative highlights a grassroots approach to managing environmental degradation in fragile, high-altitude religious tourism sites.
DEHRADUN: The 18km trek to Kedarnath, at 11,755 feet, from Gaurikund is for most pilgrims a journey of a lifetime in search of peace and tranquillity.And now, in an unusual act of service, thousands, in perhaps a first, are returning with bags of plastic waste collected from the sacred site.Under the local administration's 'Carry Me Back' initiative, close to 5,000 pilgrims have so far voluntarily carried down more than 12 tonnes of compressed plastic waste, turning what began as a local effort to tackle the mounting garbage problem into a wider campaign.The move comes against the backdrop of a serious sanitation challenge at the shrine, where a huge visitor influx generates vast quantities of waste.
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