It could fill a Mumbaikar with joy to see large herds of deer bound across Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) until Bambi stops to nibble on plastic bags at an overflowing trash can. This is now a frequent sight due to failure of the waste management system inside the park. Tourists have snapped pictures, which have gone viral on social media, showing five to six deers grazing on trash that mostly comprises plastic waste. "The garbage looked like it had been lying there for a while," said Akarsh Padiyal, a resident of Himachal Pradesh, who visited SGNP on September 18. "This should not happen inside a national park; its a threat to wildlife. SGNP should also think about the impression this leaves on foreign tourists and children." Apart from raising awareness through social media, and posting the images on a site that seeks reviews of tourist places, Padiyal also contacted the NGO Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW), urging its members to take up the matter. "Garbage is a serious issue for SGNP," agreed Pawan Sharma, Wildlife Warden for Thane and president of RAWW, adding that he has written to the SGNP administration about the matter. "However, it is also the visitor's responsibility to take back their own waste and not dump it there. SGNP is a protected area and not just a garden." Sharma feels that effort should be made to educate visitors, a task it is ready to help park officials with. A morning walker, who exercises in SGNP every day, confirmed that he had seen deer grazing around dumped waste on several occasions. "Imagine how much plastic they must be ingested. One cannot just blame tourists for littering. If visitors can spot the deer feeding on garbage, how has no SGNP official seen it and acted on it," he said. A senior SGNP official said that though a majority of the garbage was generated by tourists, some of it also came from the tribal hamlets inside SGNP. "It's a valid concern," he said, adding, "and have instructed our staff to keep clearing the areas where tourists visit. We undertake frequent cleanliness drives in the hamlets, but it is high time a permanent solution was found to manage waste inside SGNP."

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