Amid haphazard garbage disposal, Gulmarg lacks solid waste management
Baramulla, Aug 16: Despite being a top tourist destination, Gulmarg continues to grapple with the absence of a modern solid waste management system, causing a potential disastrous consequences to the environment of this tourist resort.
The world-famous ski-resort witnessed a record tourist influx in recent years, with 1.65 million visitors in 2023 and over 1.35 million in 2024. Yet, there is no high-tech waste management infrastructure in place to protect its fragile ecosystem.
Local residents fear that unchecked garbage, waste from hotels and restaurants besides plastic waste, is threatening Gulmarg’s scenic beauty and ecological balance.
“We have seen how plastic and waste from hotels and restaurants is dumped into forest areas, posing a massive threat to the environment,” said Muhammad Lateef, a resident of Tangmarg.
Gulmarg is home to around 40 hotels and restaurants with a combined capacity of nearly 1,500 rooms. According to locals, sewage and solid waste from these establishments is often disposed of in surrounding forests.
Besides, the plastic carried by tourists often unchecked is another major threat facing the area, and despite the ban on the plastic the visitors are carrying plastic bags and other non biodegradable items which adds to the environmental hazards to the area.
Locals said that on an average quintals of waste is generated in the Gulmarg tourist resort on a daily basis. They said in the absence of the proper mechanism for the dispose off the waste, the huge quantity of this waste is often dumped in the forests which poses a huge threat to the fragile ecosystem of the area.
Muhammad Ashraf, a local businessman said that Gulmarg is famous for its scenic beauty and fresh air. He said when there is no proper system of solid waste management it adds to the pollution which is extremely dangerous for a place like Gulmarg.
“The solid waste is often dumped in the forests or at the spots away from the gaze of the common people. However, this practice need to be stopped. The authorities are earning crores of rupees from this tourist resort, why don’t they place a proper solid waste mechanism here so that the place is not polluted,” Ashraf said.
Chief Executive Officer of Gulmarg Development Authority (GDA), Tariq Ahmad, assured that a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) and a solid waste management system has been prepared and approved.
“The solid waste management and STP projects have been approved, and we are hopeful of their early implementation,” Ahmad said, adding that the GDA is working to prevent illegal dumping and safeguard Gulmarg’s environment.
