Are tourists to blame? Rishikesh pic with liquor bottles divides internet

A social media post on Rishikesh, showing about two dozen empty liquor bottles and several bags of trash by the Ganga — apparently retrieved from the banks of the river — has sparked off a heated debate among netizens.

While many blamed tourists for the “decline” of the holy town in Uttarakhand, others argued against it. Rishikesh is as much popular among Hindu pilgrims for its temples, ashrams and religious significance, as it is among tourists for its picturesque locales and especially rafting.

‘Graveyard of Spirituality’

The photo was originally shared by The Himadri Foundation on Instagram on March 11. The foundation captioned the picture as “Rishikesh – The Growing Graveyard of Spirituality”.

According to the post, the foundation launched the Ganga Arogya campaign last month with the mission of cleaning up the ghats (riverbank).

“Rishikesh, once a beacon of spirituality and purity, is slowly losing its soul. The serene ghats that once echoed with chants and meditative silence are now littered with beer and whisky cans. Smoking cigarettes by the sacred river has become a common sight. Is this what Maa Ganga stands for? Is this what Rishikesh was meant to become?” the foundation remarked in the post.

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“It’s time to ask ourselves: Are we respecting the holiness of this place, or are we turning it into just another party destination? ... The responsibility lies with us. Let’s reclaim Rishikesh before it’s too late,” the post went on.

Tourists slammed

Most netizens reacting to the post praised the foundation for the good deed while slamming tourists for drinking in the holy town and littering it as well.

Soon, the picture was widely shared on X, where too people blamed tourists — especially from certain states — for the “ugliness”. Many suggested that people found littering should be fined on the spot. One user said there should be a “do or don’t list” for religious and environmentally sensitive places like Rishikesh “with heavy penalty on violators”.

Another put it bluntly: “People go to Rishikesh for weed and alcohol.” The user added that the government should ideally crack down on the suppliers but “that’s where major revenue comes” from. The user also felt that “foreign tourists visit [Rishikesh] for exactly this [‘enlightenment’].”

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Sensible voices

Others took a more measured stance. One user said an ideal solution to the problem would be to “enable setting up commercial establishments catering tourists along the banks of the river wherever possible and entrust them with waste collection”.

Another user argued that locals are very much to blame as well. “Years ago I went to a rafting camp at Rishikesh with friends. The first thing our taxi driver showed us, without even asking, was the liquor shop nearby our camp. Tourists, locals and govt, all are responsible for this mess.”

Another user wrote that blaming tourists for “internal failures” was sheer “ignorance”. “Liquor is an integral part of the lives of locals too. Everyone knows it’s easy to fetch votes with just a bottle of liquor in UKD. Drinking is not a crime in India. The BJP government has already started a liquor home license in UKD,” the user noted.

One user pointed out that stopping tourists from visiting Uttarakhand and Himachal would spell “economic disaster for many, many locals whose livelihoods are hugely dependant on tourism”.

Also read: Uttarakhand: Centre sanctions funds for rafting base station in Rishikesh

Yet another noted that the state “cannot do without tourists”. “The only option is to keep the areas squeaky clean and enforce littering bans on the ground. Uttarakhand needs tourist police — both for helping and keeping a check on tourists,” he suggested.