Assessment of Solid Waste Composition and Tourist Flow at Doodhpathri Kashmir

Abstract

The present study was carried out at Doodhpathri, a forest ecosystem and tourist resort, in the Kashmir valley during 2018 with the objectives of determining the municipal solid waste (MSW) generation at 3 sites in the months of May, June and July and also, the tourist rush (number of tourist and vehicles) in these months were also analyzed. Maximum solid waste was generated in the month of July (167.02 kg) followed by June (162.53 kg) and May (136.41 kg). The total quantity of biodegradable waste generated in the month of July was 167.02 kg while as 140.81 kg of non-biodegradable waste was generated during the same month. Similarly, in the month of June, total quantity of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste generated was 162.53 and 132.58 kg respectively, compared to 136.41 and 108.65 kg respectively in the month of May. The data indicated that the quantity of biodegradable waste generated was higher as compared to non-biodegradable. The tourist flow was significantly higher in the month of July. The total number of tourists in the month of July was 5870 followed by June (5505) and May (4250) (DDA).