Modi's Call For Cleanliness Remains Unheard At Rohtang

For more than five months from December, the pass remains cut off from the rest of the country due to heavy snowfall.

No volunteer of 'Swachh Bharat Mission' has ever visited this area, said Ravi Thakur, who sells eatables at the Rohtang Pass.

He said the local administration has installed waste disposal and drop off points between Marhi and Rohtang Pass but visitors ignore them.

Studies by the G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development in Kullu town near here said the eco-system of the Rohtang Pass is being damaged by the increasing tourist inflow and exhaust fumes of vehicles.

They say more than 2,000 vehicles go over the pass every day during peak tourist season. A major component of the traffic is also defence vehicles, with the forces reaching supplies to strategic points through the pass.

The deteriorating ecology of Rohtang, meaning "piles of dead bodies" in Persian, has also caught the attention of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

It has directed the government to check unregulated plying of vehicles and imposition of fee on every individual and vehicle crossing the Rohtang Pass, besides construction of an eco-friendly toilet and installation of garbage collection bins en route.