India, April 24 -- The growing burden on the town has also led to mounting challenges in waste management. Officials said the total solid waste - including dry, wet and other categories - generated from households as well as commercial establishments such as shops and government and non-government offices in Mussoorie is around 16 metric tonnes per day (MTPD), and it goes up to 35 metric tonnes in the tourist season. But the disposal of waste doesn't happen in the town itself. "This important issue continues to be neglected despite the fact that the disposal of waste in towns like Mussoorie should be one of the priorities," said local resident Rakesh Aggarwal. "Our entire waste is transported to Dehradun for disposal, and we currently lack adequate facilities to manage it locally. A bio-methanation plant was set up to process biodegradable waste, but it is not operational at present due to climatic factors. We are working to make it functional again," Saklani said. She added that a private agency has been engaged for door-to-door waste collection, while the civic body undertakes cleaning of public areas. "We try to ensure 100% door-to-door waste collection, but a small fraction, around 5%, is still dumped openly by some people," Saklani said. During the ground visit by HT in Mussoorie, the waste was seen dumped in open spaces and along hill slopes, including in now-dried natural water sources. Gaurav Bhasin, executive officer of the local civic body, said that generators of construction waste are required to dispose of it at their own level. If the origin of the waste cannot be identified, the civic body collects it and transports it to Dehradun or Haridwar, where it is processed by a company with which they have a contract. "We also penalise individuals and commercial establishments for not properly managing the construction waste generated by them," he said. When asked, he said that construction waste generation in Mussoorie remains consistent....