The Indiahikes Manali slope team carried out its first on-ground community initiative of the season — a joint cleanup drive with the Mahila Mandal of the local village.
The idea for this initiative began a few weeks ago. When the slope team stepped out for a Green Sweep in the forest patch behind the campus, what they found was deeply concerning — large pockets of waste scattered across just a small area. It didn’t take long to realise that one-time cleanups weren’t going to help. Unless there was a shift in how waste was seen and handled, it would keep coming back.
That’s when the team decided to involve the community. They reached out to the Mahila Mandal — a group of women who clean the village every 10th of the month — and proposed a collaboration. With support from the Pradhan Ji, the plan was set in motion.
The next morning, the slope team met the women near the Indiahikes campus. Siddharth from the team introduced Indiahikes, shared the plan for the day, and handed out eco-bags for the cleanup.
The group got to work, and in less than an hour, they had cleared 162 kilos of waste.
But the real success of the morning lay in what happened during the cleanup. Every slope team member took time to speak with the villagers — to share what Indiahikes stands for, what Green Trails means, and why sustainability is central to everything we do.
After the cleanup, the Mahila Mandal was invited to the Indiahikes campus for tea and snacks. It was a simple gesture, but it opened space for a deeper conversation. The team shared more about:
- Indiahikes’ presence in Manali
- The slope team’s role
- The work that happens behind every trek
- And most importantly, how waste can be handled better at a village level
Two clear ideas were introduced:
- Avoid burning collected or daily waste
- Start segregating waste before disposal
They have questions. Their concerns were practical, and all of them were valid. The team responded with suggestions and assured them of continued support. They also committed to working with the Pradhan Ji to co-create solutions that last.
For the slope team, this was more than a cleanup. It was a chance to build trust — to show up with clarity and purpose.
This green sweep at Manali is just a small part of something much bigger at Indiahikes. Similar community outreach efforts are happening across our slopes — in Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Himachal. Because we’ve seen this time and again — real change doesn’t come from one-off cleanups. It happens when local communities are involved, when they take the lead, and when there’s a slow but steady shift in behaviour and systems. That’s the kind of change we’re working towards.