EFFECTIVE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT DURING FESTIVAL TIME IN Garima Goswami,1 Jayesh Arora2, Kamlesh3 1.2.3.Department of Applied Sciences, JIET Universe, NH-62, Mogra, Pali Road, (Rajasthan), ()

ABSTRACT Indian Culture fascinates and attracts the people from all over world along with people from India. Tourists are attracted in large number from in and outside India to attend cultural and religious events. One such event is Ramdevra Mela held at the majestic and prestigious, Shri Ramdev temple at Ramdevra, which is 13 km. away from Pokran in , Rajasthan. thousands of people participate in this annual fest.People from towns and villages of Rajasthan,Gujrat , Madhya Pradesh,etc. arrive to make their offerings. This Fest contributes towards the economy of the state, but at the same time the darker part of this event is to be taken care of. In this paper the hardships faced by local people and the people moving to the sacred place is taken into consideration and possible solution are also suggested. Keywords: festival, solid waste, devotees, Ramdevra, management,

I. INTRODUCTION

A large annual fair in organized in the village of Ramdevra (Rajasthan) in memory of Baba Ram Dev. every year .Thousands of devotees gather at Ramdevra, where Baba Ramdev’s Samadhi exists. The Samadhi was converted to a temple by Maharaja of in 1931A.D. This is one fair that is free from the shackles of religion, caste or creed, as people from all religions come here to pray to Baba Ramdev and the faith in his blessings is the only religion followed by his devotees.

It is a strong belief of people that Baba Ramdev always believed in equality of all men, rich or poor, whatsoever is their caste or religion. His deeds were targeted towards helping the needy.

1.1. When Is Ramdevra Fair Held The fair is held every year in the months of August-September, according to the Hindu calendar, which corresponds to the month of Bhaadon, i.e. from bhaadon Sudi 2 to Bhaadon Sudi 11. This year it was held from September 3 to September12, 2016.

II. HISTORY Baba Ramdev was a Tanwar Rajput and a saint, who later took Samadhi (taking voluntary exit and detachment from mortal body). He was gifted with miraculous powers, which led his fame spread far and wide. This made him popular in nearby areas. Slowly his fame spread throughout the country, even outside the country. Five

257 | P a g e saints from Mecca when tried to test and verify his powers and if all that is said about him was true, ultimately paid homage to him. Since then Muslims call him Ram Shah Pir and Hindus believe that he is an incarnation of Lord Krishna. III. CELEBRATIONS AT FEST The devotees offer prayers in the temple of Baba Ramdev, situated near the Samadhi of Baba Ramdev.

Picture: Ramdevra Temple

Devotees offer rice, coconuts, churma, and wooden horses to Baba Ramdev as a token of gratitude. Throughout the Fair, devotees organize night long bhajans and kirtans to pay homage to the Lord. Near the village, there is a tank known as Ramsar tank, which is believed to have been constructed by Baba Ramdev himself. A large step well, the Parcha Baori is also situated nearby.

Picture: Parcha Baori, Ramdevra

There is also a well in the same area which is supposed to have been built by Baba Ramdev himself. The local villagers consider the water of this well to be sacred and holy. People travel to the fair from close to places on camels, bullock carts and even on foot. During the period of the fair, special buses and trains carry passengers from not only Rajasthan but also places as far as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to the fair site.

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IV. LOCATION AND TRANSPORT

Picture: Map of Rajasthan

To reach Ramdevra travel to either Mumbai or New Delhi and then take an internal flight to Jodhpur in Rajasthan, From Jodhpur reach by rail or road to Pokran in . Ramdevra is 12 kilometers from Pokran. Local people apart from public transport travel to the place using jeeps, tempos, bikes, etc, still some may travel on camels, bullock carts or on foot. During the fest, special buses and trains transit from as far as Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. By Air: Nearest Airport: Jaisalmer (125 km) By Rail: The nearest railway station is Ramdevra (0 km.) By Road: Bus service, and private vehicles from major cities like Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer are available. Road Distance from Jaipur: 510 Km Road Distance from Jaisalmer: 125 Km

V. PROBLEMS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT

During their movement to and fro from the fest site there are many issues to be taken care of: 5.1. Life risk during Travelling: One of many facilities provided by Government of Rajasthan is special bus services for the transition of devotees. Still people prefer to reach Ramdevra either walking or by their own two wheelers and may also move in a group, taking tractors or other vehicles. One reason of moving on foot is their faith and belief in the deity or because of their promises (or mannats).

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Picture: Dangerous Situations During Travelling to the Fest The other reason is that majority of the devotees are poor and downtrodden people. Also they belong to very small towns (Dhanis) and villages where frequency of bus movement is very low. And due to low literary rate of the people participating in this fest, they often decide to take their own vehicles. This creates a high risk of life:  Walking for longer distances day and night on foot may cause various health issues.  Travelling long distances or on highways in large groups may result into severe accidents.  Travelling long distances on bikes overloaded and without helmets is a risk for life.  Life is put to risk when devotees do not hesitate to travel on bus and train rooftops.

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Picture: Solid Waste Generation and Lodging Problem 5.2. Other Issues: When these devotees groups reach to any of the midway small cities, these cities become overcrowded other management issues arise:  Solid waste management  Drinking water management  Food and shelter for devotees  Electricity management  Health care facilities management

VI. SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS Rajasthan Government and NGOs take care of this fest and tries to make necessary arrangement, which includes: 1. Special buses/trains for the Ramdevra devotees. Number and frequency of these buses generally should still be increased and should reach to remote areas also. 2. These buses/trains should be free for the devotees. 3. The NGOs and the people who want to contribute personally and monetarily for this fest can contribute at one centre from where the food , drinking water, medical facilities, etc arrangements can be taken care of at proper rate and in proper time so that wastage of any sort can be checked.

4. Proper boarding and lodging facilities by the government and NGOs can make the devotees feel relaxed

during any time of the day or night whenever they arrive.

5. Proper disposal of plastic plates, glasses, etc is only possible by developing proper boarding and lodging facilities for the devotees, which otherwise will check upon the unnecessary spoiling of place by throwing

off basically plastic waste which increases the solid waste . Recyclable paper plates, glasses, etc. can be

used for serving food so that the use of plastics can be reduced and also a solution to plastic disposal. 6. Proper organization and execution of government policies should be ensured with some self awareness of people so that the problems becomes easy to solve.

VII. CONCLUSION

This fest is very important from the cultural point of view of local people of Rajasthan. The proper management of different issues is therefore of utmost importance to make people feel safe and contended. All the major issues arise because of the uncivilized sense and improper attitude of people towards the environment as most of

261 | P a g e the visitors to this fest are from backward classes and thus they have least civic sense and also are not aware of the results and consequences of environmental degradation. The main and the foremost requirement to reduce and solve this problem of waste management is by educating people about the cause, consequences and control of solid waste.

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