Living For Environment and partners reclaimed an open dumpsite in Dimapur during the Himalayan Cleanup 2026.
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DIMAPUR — The annual Himalayan Cleanup 2026 was observed in Dimapur on Saturday by the state representative of Living For Environment, in partnership with the Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dimapur Division, and supported by Swachh Bharat Mission-UrbanU, Nagaland.
Shifting from last year’s large-scale public campaigns, Living For Environment focused this year’s efforts entirely on reclaiming an open dumpsite on the Forest Office Complex ground.
According to an update, the initiative aligned with the World Environment Day theme, “Inspired by nature. For climate. For our future”, aiming to restore natural spaces, track climate-disrupting plastics, and safeguard the environment.
Conceived in 2018, the Himalayan Cleanup has grown into one of the largest collective actions against plastic pollution across the Himalayan states.
The drive goes beyond waste collection by incorporating a detailed waste and brand audit to highlight corporate contributors to plastic pollution.
The cleanup commenced at 6 am with 24 participants. This included six team members from Living For Environment and 18 volunteers, comprising six students from the North East Institute of Social Sciences and Research, six from Salesian College of Higher Education, two representatives from Pro-Rural, one from the Forest Department, and three independent individuals.
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A volunteer was pricked by a discarded syringe needle and was taken to the hospital for a tetanus shot and precautionary tests.
Altogether, the team cleared 23 sacks of waste weighing a total of 261.521 kg from the open dumpsite. Following the collection, a waste and brand audit was conducted until 4 pm, assessing 50.886 kg across six selected sacks.
The audit revealed that single-use disposable plastics constituted the majority of the litter, accounting for nearly 400 individual items. This included 107 BioGlobal disposable plates (5.720 kg), 183 plastic spoons and forks (0.435 kg), and 106 disposable food containers (1.91 kg).
In terms of corporate brands, Shikar Pan Masala (76 wrappers) and Signature (60 packets) emerged as the most prevalent.
Alcohol packaging was also highly visible, including 20 plastic quarter-bottles of Magic Moments (750 g) and 12 plastic quarter-bottles of AC Black (485 g). Additionally, an outside breakfast arrangement for the team generated 25 pieces of sugarcane-based compostable waste weighing 325 g.
Reflecting on the drive, Chu thuzhu ni Chache, Project Coordinator at Living For Environment, stated that blind dumping practices pose severe, immediate threats to both public health and the environment.
She noted that the volume of single-use items, even those brought in externally for convenience, highlights how deeply entrenched disposable culture is in daily routines.
She added that while the team successfully cleared the surface of the dumpsite, layers of deeply embedded legacy waste still pose a long-term challenge for the area.