Kedarnath generates 50.30 tonnes of waste in 5 months, 2.5 times more than last year
The waste generated in just the first five months of this year far exceeds the total waste produced in any single year over the preceding three years
In the year 2026, the pilgrimage site of Kedarnath generated 50.30 metric tonnes of waste over the span of just five months, from April to August. This amount is more than double the waste collected during the entire pilgrimage season of the previous year, 2025. The data was provided by the Nagar Panchayat in response to an RTI query posed by Amit Gupta, an activist from Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
The waste generated in the first five months of 2026 surpassed the total waste produced in any single year over the past three years.
Comparatively, Kedarnath produced 32.58 metric tonnes of waste in 2023, 26.10 metric tonnes in 2024, and 21.40 metric tonnes in 2025. The waste generated in Kedarnath between April and August 2026 is approximately 54% higher than the total waste generated in 2023, around 93% higher than in 2024, and about 135% higher than in 2025.
The breakdown shows 1.7 metric tonnes of waste in April, rising to 16.3 metric tonnes in May, followed by 11.5 metric tonnes in June, 10.5 metric tonnes in July, and finally 10.3 metric tonnes in August 2026.
The Nagar Panchayat also reported that approximately 20 metric tonnes of plastic waste had been generated in Kedarnath by the end of 2026. Out of this, 18.5 metric tonnes (92.5%) were processed, while about 1.5 metric tonnes remained unprocessed. The landfill capacity in Kedarnath is 30,000 square feet, with 28,000 square feet of space remaining. Over the past five years, four landfills have been constructed in the area.
The RTI activist raised concerns about the growing waste levels and the reliance on landfills in Kedarnath, particularly given the large number of pilgrims and tourists visiting this environmentally sensitive region annually. Gupta highlighted that the waste generation in Kedarnath over just five months is far exceeding the volume produced during entire pilgrimage seasons in previous years, posing a severe threat to the environment.
He emphasized that the rising waste levels are primarily due to human activities and that Kedarnath is being turned into a dumping ground.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
