Dharamsala
Half-Yearly Report April 2018 - September 2018 Supported by
Our Progress This Year Our first year of support from HT Parekh
Working in hand with our community engagement
Foundation in 2017-18 resulted in comprehensive and
programs for households and bulk generating businesses
impactful results from our dedicated staff and Green
in this touristed area has smoothened our task of
Workers, from boosting waste collection and public
managing hundreds of tons of waste produced annually
awareness to planning and supporting the first phases of
by lakhs of tourists who come through McLeod Ganj to
sustainable initiatives. Now in 2018, our determined team
visit Bhagsunag, Dharamkot, and Triund. This combined
of four staff and ten Green Workers work non-stop to
effort helps us achieve our intention to mitigate the
sustain our efforts in Bhagsunag ward, using different
hazardous effects of pollution on air, water, and soil, and
strategies for public awareness and advocacy.
help the community improve their own environment.
Where We Are Dharamsala,
Himachal
Triund
Pradesh
has 17 municipal wards; 3 of these are in the bustling hills of Upper Dharamsala: Bhagsunag, Forsyth Gallu
Ganj, and McLeod Ganj. Our project operates in Bhagsunag ward,
including
in
lower/upper
Bhagsu, lower/upper Dharamkot, Heini village, at Gallu check post and waterfall trail, and on Forest
Bhagsu Waterfall
Dharamkot
Bhagsunag Forsyth Ganj
Dept. land on the Triund trails and campsite at nearly 2900m.
McLeod Ganj
Our Project Objectives for 2018-19
1.
7. SWM Projects in Newer Areas
Clean-up Drives in Littered Areas
2. Door-to-Door Waste Collection Services
6. Advocacy with Local Authorities
3. Community & Tourist Awareness Initiatives
5. SWM Education in Schools 4. Public Space Transformations
1. Clean-up Drives in Littered Areas
Photos from our Clean-up Drives
2. Door-to-door Waste Collection Operations We have increased our daily door-to-door collection (DTDC) service coverage for establishments in Bhagsu (Lower/Upper), Bhagsu waterfall trails, Dharamkot (Lower/Upper), Heini village, and Gallu checkpost. Our dedicated Green Workers hike and carry hundreds of kilos of waste along the hillside for tens of kilometres every day for further segregation.
3. Community and Tourist Awareness Initiatives Our initiatives target McLeod Ganj and Bhagsunag’s
We’ve organized awareness events on tourist-heavy public
high floating population of predominantly weekend
holidays: Independence Day (Bhagsunag-McleodGanj Road),
tourists who are the main source of litter. We have
World Clean-up day (Bhagsu waterfall), and Gandhi Jayanti
strategically placed our branded canopy 23 times at
(Bhagsunag). We have also conducted a ‘No-Straws’
tourist entry points to directly engage tourists, which
campaign in 34 cafes to raise awareness on the harms of
increases the visibility of our awareness-raising work in
single-use plastic, how to avoid them and find alternatives,
addition to the branding on our volunteers and staff.
and to minimize of plastic waste generated in cafes.
4. Public Space Transformations: Installing Dustbins
We are marching to our target of 100 locally sponsored dustbins by partnering with local business Chinmay Yoga, who has so far sponsored 40 new public-use dustbins, and is covering the salary of one Green Worker for full dustbin maintenance. This map shows the bins coverage in Bhagsu. More businesses are now expressing interest in our initiative.
At Gallu Checkpost
In Bhagsunag
At Bhagsu Govt. School
4. Public Space Transformations: Murals We collaborated with volunteers artists to create three beautiful and eco-conscious public murals: each on highly visible roads Gallu check post, Bhagsu Govt. School, and near Ravine Hotel.
5. SWM Education in Schools It is vital that the administration and students of every school learn about how to properly dispose and segregate their waste to ensure that their waste is managed as per the laws of India for the sake of their health and the environment. â—?
In September, our team began the first phase of our educational program on waste management and civic engagement with fifteen teachers participating and representing seven schools. Our Education Assistant from Dehradun trained teachers on how to implement and get creative with the toolkits in their school.
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We also conducted hands-on upcycling session with Bhagsu GSSS school with our volunteers, to teach how to make art and useful items from recyclables.
6. Advocacy with Local Authorities
Triund Dumpsite Now
Triund has significantly improved due to support from DFO Dharamsala and intervention from Shimla High Court. As of July 2018, Gallu checkpost has a Rs.50 entry fee and a cap of 500 tourists/day. Forest Dept. rangers are limiting night campers to 200 at Triund campsite, with fines for additional renters (>7 tents). Police now confiscate alcohol from tourists at the checkpost and conduct raids at the campsite, which also prevents tons of broken glass being disposed on Triund.
Triund Dumpsite Before
On the trail, we continue to distribute waste sacks to shops for a donation, and continue to train all shopkeepers on waste segregation. Now, for the first time in years, the Triund dumpsite no longer has any full waste sacks there, as all shops at Triund have also been ordered by the DFO to transport waste sacks down at their own cost to us for further segregation.
6. Advocacy with Local Authorities ●
During a 2-month internship, an M.Sc student from TERI School
of
Advanced
Studies
(Delhi)
studied
the
bio-contamination of water sources in our mountainous area, and conducted a tourist survey at Triund on open-defecation and toilet usage. The analysed data was submitted to DFO Dharamsala who is looking into potential solutions for public-use toilets at Triund. ●
We met with Dharamsala Municipal Commissioner and submitted a proposal for a Bhagsunag waterfall ticket entry booth. In the proposal, we highlighted the waterfall’s current situation and proposed a feasible and financially
sustainable
solution
to
solid
waste
management by initiating collection of a minimum entry fee which would easily support salaries for waste management and monitoring staff.
7. SWM Projects in New Areas Our focus is on our project areas but we also help community members in other parts of Himachal who approach us for better SWM practices: â—?
With the assistance of KYTA.India, phase 1 of our SWM project in Kalga involved comprehensive waste surveys and volunteer clean-ups, education sessions with schools, and building trust with local authorities and community members.
â—?
We collaborated with Zostel India to organize one clean-up drive with their hostel in Dalhousie, providing them clean-up equipment and waste segregation support. The purpose of the clean-up was to make locals and tourists aware of the importance of cleanliness in such booming hilltowns. Nagar Parishad Dalhousie, schools, college students, and locals also joined us to show their support of a cleaner Dalhousie, collecting over 100 kgs of litter.
Community Testimonials Trilok Pathania
Pradhan, Dharamkot village
“Awareness and education is important for the community. We need to work together against the waste problem in Dharamkot area. Waste Warriors is working in our village to make it clean, and as community members we need to work with them and need to make our own village more cleaner.”
Mira Rehela
Long-time supporter/Owner, Trimurti Garden, Bhagsu
“Waste Warriors are very essential to our community, I feel that they are providing a great service for Bhagsunag and Dharamkot. Without their help there would be so much more garbage around us. We need much more support and understanding from everyone to work together to make Himalayas clean.”
In The Media
Our team is often approached by media
outlets
inspirational
to
document
stories
from
our our
hardworking staff and volunteers. In August, Hindustan Times published an article on the plastic pollution issues we and many communities across the Himalayas are facing. Their video can be watched here: https://youtu.be/Otz-FZ7QuI8
Awards and Recognition On Gandhi Jayanti at the India Today Safaigiri Summit and Awards 2018, India Today presented Waste Warriors Society with a Safaigiri 2018 Award for being a ‘Community Mobiliser’, one of 15 award categories presented to NGOs working across India. Maximising community ownership and mobilisation is vital to the Dharamsala project. Combining weekly door to door community awareness initiatives with clean-ups and waste collection services has been of great help to reduce mixed waste disposal and mitigate dumping/burning of waste.
L-to-R: Aroon Purie (India Today Group Chairman/Editor-in-Chief), Avinash Pratap Singh (WW COO), Hbl. Minister Nitin Gadkari, Gaurav Aggarwal (WW EMC treasurer), Chirag Mahajan (WW Comms. Manager).
Dharamsala
Thank you for your support! Prepared by: Richa Sharma Project Manager dharamsala@wastewarriors.org +91 98730 31163