20,000 tons of waste to be cleared as Kumbh Mela festival ends in India

Thousands of sanitation workers in Prayagraj were working tirelessly on Friday to clean up 20,000 tons of waste left behind by the millions of Hindu devotees who attended the Kumbh Mela mega-festival.

The massive sanitation effort began after the six-week festival concluded last week in the northern city of Prayagraj, where hundreds of millions of people gathered.

Mounds of discarded clothing, plastic bottles, and other debris now litter the grounds, requiring extensive clean-up.

“We have deployed 15,000 workers to clear up some 20,000 tons of waste generated from the festival,” said Chandra Mohan Garg, Prayagraj municipal commissioner.

The Kumbh Mela, held every 12 years at the holy confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati rivers, is a major event on the Hindu religious calendar.

Rooted in Hindu mythology, the festival commemorates a battle between deities and demons for control of a pitcher containing the nectar of immortality.

In addition to waste collection, workers are also dismantling temporary infrastructure, including 150,000 portable toilets. In some areas, open spaces were used as makeshift toilets, which posed further challenges for the sanitation teams.

“The dedication toward cleanliness… will continue to inspire efforts to keep Prayagraj, and its sacred rivers, clean for generations to come,” the government said in a statement.

The Kumbh Mela is also seen as a reflection of the “collective spirit of maintaining a cleaner and more sustainable environment,” it added.