Help Pradeep in Healing Himalayas

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I am Pradeep Sangwan originally from Haryana but moved to Himachal Pradesh in 2009. I come from a humble back ground studied in Military School Ajmer hence lead a very disciplined life although initially not by choice. My school gave me a very patriotic feeling and soon I fell in love with my country literally hence after school it's only defence forces and serve the nation. I really wanted to be in Army but after a small success in my written exam I failed to get through the process of seven days interview. So now the Jack of all trades and master of none was in a situation where he couldn’t decide for himself what's next as that was the only chance he could appear for the exam. So I enrolled myself in Punjab University to study Humanities, a fancy way of saying it and nothing much to study actually. Soon I realised it’s a blessing in disguise and I could travel and explore which was prohibited in my school. Trekking came into my life in 2007, which made me move to Manali in 2009 and by 2010 I was a regular. It was so mesmerising whether it was Reaching to the submit, trekking all day, Pitching your tent, cooking your own food in the wilderness, listening to Shepards and their encounters with wild life. It’s a different world and I was loving it but the struggle came from every direction from supporting my family to the flood of trekkers in every part of Himalayas, a sudden boom in camping sites to travel companies to the makers of travelling and trekking gear giants everything happened so quickly. Himalayas never got the time to comprehend the situation neither via indigenous communities nor the Government.
There I was adapting to the new world, people, weather, lifestyle struggling to find the middle path to maintain my composure. How do I move forward when I am not loved by my own and what I love is being cursed by unknown. So I introspected whether I need money to do good for the Himalayas or just pure intention. After living in dilemma for more than a year Healing Himalayas Foundation came into picture in 2016. In the mean time I was a traveller showing people the best of Himalayas which later seems like a mistake.

After my first cleaning drive near Hamta pass (Manali) my friends rushed in to help me and within a year what started as a solo journey to remove non-biodegradable waste from Himalayas turned into a movement. Being an outsider was once my weakness and now it became my strength. When you enjoy your work too much nothing seems impossible. Today I have more then 20k people appreciating me and my teams work on social media but we need your support as well, you can be the backbone of our work.

Details for direct bank transfer / UPI

Virtual account name: Healing Himalayas Foundation - Milaap
Account number: 80808080101017689
IFSC code: YESB0CMSNOC

Click here to read the instructions before you make a bank transfer.

Story published at Himsatta on 28th March, 2017

Published at Punjab Kesari on 29th May, 2017

News Coverage by Dainik Jagran on 29th May, 2017

Our recent cleaning campaign where 8000 plastic bottles collected.

Details for direct bank transfer / UPI

Virtual account name: Healing Himalayas Foundation - Milaap
Account number: 80808080101017689
IFSC code: YESB0CMSNOC

Click here to read the instructions before you make a bank transfer.

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8th May 2019

Thank you to all our donors because of whom the Healing Himalayas Foundation has made a great impact on the constantly suffering ecology of the Himalayas.

Till date, the Healing Himalayas Foundation has:

Collected 500 thousand kilos of plastic from Kheerganga, Shimla, Shrikhand Mahadev, Parashar lake and the adopted villages of Manali.
The 5 villages have turned completely dry garbage free due to constant efforts of Healing Himalayas Foundation's volunteers.
Awareness talks on plastic burning and pollution were conducted with each cleaning drive.

Last year, High Court ordered to close all the illegal campsites at Kheerganga but seeing the number of trekkers still coming in, the forest department thought of regularising the camps in a monitored way.

Hence, during a meeting with DFO Parvati and conservator Amit Sharma ji , the founder Pradeep Sangwan has laid out the following sustainable plan for the coming season:

Healing Himalayas Foundation would be conducting regular drives constant during the trekking season.
To Instal a check post at Kheerganga to monitor the number of trekkers and the garbage coming with them.
Instructing the trekkers to dispose off their waste properly and eventually charging 50 INR for maintenance.
Minimizing plastic waste by banning the single-use plastic such a chips, toffees or biscuits wrappers.
Pradeep Sangwan would be involving the locals for the cleaning campaigns.
Villages near Kheerganga will be painted with thought-provoking graffiti, wall art, and messages by the volunteers of the Healing Himalayas Foundation.

Thus, our main aim this year is to educate people through ground action and also providing sustainable solutions at the same time.

You can see the work & progress of the Healing Himalayas Foundation in this video.

Stay connected, keep donating for further improvements in the Himalayas and mind your usage of the single-use plastic.

8th August 2018

We have been able to organise at least three cleaning drives every month in Himalayas. Every time number of volunteers increased this showcased that people are willing to go extra miles to save our beautiful mountains. Lack of awareness, resources and excessive tourism is the main reason behind generation of solid waste.

Warmly,
The Healing Himalayas Team