Waste management infra inadequate on pilgrim tracks of Uttarakhand: NGT

The National Green Tribunal has said there was "serious failure" on the part of the Uttarakhand administration in waste management across the pilgrimage tracks of Kedarnath, Hemkund Sahib, Yamunotri and Gomukh.

The tribunal was hearing a petition claiming large-scale unregulated violation of environmental norms along the four pilgrim tracks.

Noting that a committee constituted earlier by the NGT had submitted a factual report after undertaking site visits, a bench comprising Chairperson Justice A K Goel said the report acknowledged that "infrastructure for waste management is inadequate".

"Equine excrement, solid garbage, and plastic waste were observed on and around the tracks and in the valley and soak pit toilets were overflowing with waste or the toilets were not working," the bench, also comprising judicial members Justice Sudhir Agarwal and Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, along with expert member Afroz Ahmad, noted.

It said that according to the report, during peak hours, there was