5 Crore Pilgrims Leave 7,000 Tonnes Trash: Haridwar Mega Cleanup

Every year, many people in India go on a special journey called the Kanwar Yatra.

They walk to the holy Ganga river to fill bottles with water to take home.

This year, almost five crore people — about 50 million — visited the town of Haridwar.

When the journey ended after Shivratri, the town was left covered in rubbish.

Workers had to move more than 7,000 tonnes of garbage to special dumping grounds.

Some people even left bottles filled with urine in changing rooms near the river.

Many local people were sad because pilgrims are supposed to love and respect the sacred river.

Rubbish was also found in Gangotri, a mountain place where plastic is not allowed.

The forest department collected 57 bags of waste from Gangotri.

Now, the city has started a big cleanup week with more than 1,000 workers to make the holy places clean again.