A foreign woman tourist has expressed concern over widespread littering at tourist and religious sites in Shimla, urging people to stop throwing garbage in forests and public places.
In a video that has gone viral on social media, the woman points to heaps of garbage at several locations and appeals to people to keep the hill town clean.
“I have just one request–please stop doing this. I am in Shimla, and while travelling here I saw garbage in many places. You call this place the land of the gods, so how can you litter these areas?" she says, pointing to empty alcohol and beer bottles and packets of chips strewn across a forest area.
The tourist also urges people to keep their trash inside their vehicles while travelling instead of throwing it on roadsides or in forests.
“Why can’t you keep your trash inside the car you are travelling in? When you find a bin at a hotel, home or anywhere else, put it there," she says.
She adds that heaps of garbage can be seen around religious sites as well and appeals to people to change their habits.
“How can you do this to your religion and your country?" she asks.
The video has triggered widespread discussion on social media, with many users agreeing that littering continues to be a major challenge at several tourist destinations in Himachal Pradesh despite repeated appeals by authorities and environmental groups to maintain cleanliness. And also that where is our civic sense and why does it take a foreigner to tell people not to litter our houses and places.
