Uttarakhand To Set Up 500 Water ATMs To Tackle Plastic Pollution

Uttarakhand’s Kedarnath turned into a sea of garbage filled with plastic waste during the Char Dham Yatra. Heaps of plastic waste like plastic bottles were piled near snow-covered mountains resembling any other street dump in the country. Plastic pollution hasn’t even left Kedarnath unscathed. So, in order to tackle plastic pollution, the Uttarakhand government will soon set up 500 water ATMs at every tourist spot in the state. Read on to know more.

500 Water ATMs To Come Up In Uttarakhand’s Tourist Spots

According to a report by Hindustan Times, Nitesh Jha, secretary of the drinking water and sanitation department revealed the Uttarakhand government’s future plans to tackle plastic pollution. He revealed to Hindustan Times that they shall install 500 water ATMs at every tourist spot in the state. This will be done with an aim to provide clean and quality drinking water to tourists to reduce their dependency on plastic water bottles. Plastic water bottles are a major contribution to the environmental degradation in Uttarkhand.

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Urging Tourists To Ditch Plastic Bottles

Since tourists are often sceptical about the quality of water at ATMs, Uttarakhand aims to change this perception. Currently, around 60 water ATMs have been installed at various tourist points from Rishikesh to Devprayag. Anoop Nautiyal, founder of SDC Foundation stated to Hindustan Times that Uttarakhand must follow the Sikkim government by banning plastic water bottles below 2 litres. He revealed that water ATMs at a tourist spot in Uttarakhand are a good initiative that will coax tourists to drink clean water from the ATM rather than purchasing a plastic bottle.