Pahalgam: A video purportedly showing a group of Amarnath Yatra pilgrims bathing, washing clothes with detergent and discarding soap wrappers into the Lidder River near the bus parking area at the Pahalgam base camp has triggered concerns over pollution of one of Kashmir’s most important freshwater sources.
The video has been shared by many concerned citizens seeking immediate attention of authorities to stop the environmental degradation.
The river, which flows downstream through several villages in south Kashmir, is used by many communities for domestic purposes, with water in several areas consumed without filtration. Environmentalists have repeatedly warned that pollution in the upper reaches of the river directly affects water quality downstream.
Despite repeated government and NGO campaigns promoting responsible tourism, waste management and environmental conservation during the annual pilgrimage, the activities seen in the viral video have raised questions over the implementation and enforcement of these measures on the ground.
The Pahalgam base camp remains under heavy security during the Yatra, with multiple agencies, including civic bodies and local authorities responsible for sanitation and environmental management, deployed across the area. However, the practices seen in the video appear to have gone unchecked.
This is not the first such incident. Similar videos showing pilgrims and tourists polluting water bodies during previous Yatra seasons have surfaced on social media, prompting calls for stricter enforcement of environmental regulations.
In the video, the person recording the footage, who appears to be a concerned visitor, appeals to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board to intervene. He urges the Board to deploy personnel near the river to prevent people from bathing with soap and shampoo, washing clothes with detergent, brushing their teeth and throwing waste directly into the water.
He also points out that the same river water is used by people living downstream and requests the Shrine Board to prohibit bathing at the spot. If pilgrims wish to take a ritual dip, he says, they should simply take a single holy dip without using soap, shampoo or detergents that contaminate the river.
