Volunteers cleaned piles of waste from the exposed Ganga riverbed in Haridwar. The video renewed calls for safer clean-ups, dumping bans and fines.Volunteers step in to clear Ganga riverbed buried with clothes and plastic in Haridwar (Photos: @apnaa.haridwar/Instagram)Haridwar,Oct 22, 2026 18:29 ISTA man from Haridwar shared a video showing a group of people cleaning up the dried-up bed of the Ganga, where piles of trash had accumulated.Instagram user Sohit Kumar shared the video, explaining that the water supply to the Ganga in Haridwar had been stopped for 20 days and was scheduled to resume on the night of Diwali.In the video, Sohit walked along the exposed riverbed, showing heaps of waste scattered across the stretch where the water would usually flow.
Discarded clothes, plastic and other rubbish lay strewn across the dry ground.As he panned his camera around, he spotted several people who had climbed down onto the riverbed to collect the waste. Sohit approached a few of them, who told him that they came every year to clean up the trash left behind by visitors.
They said the amount of waste was often just as much, if not more, each time. Sohit shared the video with the caption, “Devotees of Ganga came forward to clean Ganga ,” adding that the water supply would resume from the night of Diwali.Watch the video here: The video received reactions from viewers, with several criticising people for dumping waste in the river.
One user called out those who discarded their clothes there, while another appreciated the volunteers’ efforts but urged them to wear gloves, masks and protective footwear while handling the rubbish.A third user suggested that authorities should prohibit the dumping of waste in public places and holy rivers and impose fines on those who violated the rules.- Ends