with over two lakh pilgrims set to visit the holy Amarnath cave in Jammu and Kashmir (j&k) for 45 days starting July 15, a severe waste-management crisis might unfold in the nearby hill resort of Pahalgam and its surrounding areas. While the state government claims to have taken several steps to save the fragile ecosystem of the place from the menace, the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (sasb) complains the government did not let it do enough.

During Amarnath yatra (pilgrimage), the 44.8 kilometre-stretch from Pahalgam to the cave is littered with human excreta. Though makeshift lavatories are made, no scientific waste disposal method is used. There is also no mechanism to check the use of polythene and other plastic wastes. The litter generated by private langars (open kitchens providing free food) is poured into fields and waterbodies.

"...the waste is dumped in the forest areas of Sarbal from where a tributary of river Lidder flows