Nary a tourist would want to skip a visit to Tsomgo lake during a trip to Sikkim. Located 38 km from Gangtok, at an elevation of nearly 3,780 metres, the glacial lake is known to change the colour and appearance of its waters with every season. Tsomgo, also known as Changu or Tsongmo lake, is also considered sacred by the local communities and sustains diverse flora and fauna, including wild red pandas. It is little wonder that the lake attracts 300,000 to 500,000 visitors a year.
However, the popularity of the lake has long left behind a problem of waste management for village communities in the vicinity. Hence since 2008, the Tsomgo Pokhri Sanrakshan Samiti prevents pollution and manages waste around the lake. Currently, 250 families from three villages, Changu, Chipsu and Thegu, are members of the Samiti, says Sangay Lama, a resident of the Changu area and a member of the panel since its inception. Nine members serve as the executive body, which also includes a forest range officer.
Lama describes the work of the Samiti as threefold: first, the panel collects a nominal conservation fee from tourists at the lake. “Earlier, the amount was Rs 10 per tourist, and last year it was revised to Rs 20,” says Lama, adding that in 2025, the Samiti collected around Rs 1 crore. Half the amount goes to the state revenue fund.
This money is then used for waste collection through garbage bins kept around the lake, and through drives conducted periodically on noted days, such as World Wetlands Day (February 2) and World Environment Day (June 5). The waste goes to a resource collection centre near the lake, set up in 2012. The centre segregates the waste and sends it to a treatment facility in Gangtok.
The Samiti also conducts three to four awareness campaigns a year, in particular for commercial shops that have sprung around the lake. “There are over 50 shops, some of which sell food items in and around the lake area,” says Mingma Sherpa, former president of the Samiti. Sherpa adds that now, all the shops have shifted to a lower area away from the lake. Finally, the Samiti holds annual meetings to set long-term conservation goals for the lake.
All these activities began after the state government issued a notification in 2007, calling for protection and conservation of the lake. “Around this time, tourism in Sikkim also saw a boost, so we knew that waste management and conservation were needed,” says Lama. “The state government had proposed Rs 50, but the Samiti members felt that no one would pay so much. Travel agencies still raise questions sometimes. But many tourists appreciate our point of view and are conscious,” Lama says.
The Samiti is also able to gauge impacts of a changing climate. “Snowfall usually starts in November-December, but last year it came after January. Sometimes, there is snow in early spring, too. This has started to affect tourism,” says Lama.
This article was originally published in the August 1-15, 2026 print edition of Down To Earth