International Journal of All Research Education and Scientific Methods (IJARESM), ISSN: 2455-6211 Volume 8, Issue 6, June-2020, Impact Factor: 4.597, Available online at: www.ijaresm.com IJARESM Publication, India >>>> www.ijaresm.com Page 144 Hospitality Industry in Ladakh: Assessing the Volume of Solid Waste Generation of Operation Restaurants of Leh Town through Spatiotemporal Method Dr Muzafar Ahmad Wani 1 , Dr Shamim Ahmad Shah 2 , M. Kamraju 3 , Dr Mohd Akhter Ali 4 , Sajad N Dar 5 1 Assistant Professor, department of Geography government degree college Pulwama, J&K, India 192301 2 Professor and Head, Department of Geography and Regional Development, University of Kashmir, Srinagar 190006 3 Student, Osmania university Telangana India, 4 Assistant professor, department of geography Osmania university Telangana India, 5 Assistant professor,Department of Geography lovely professional university Punjab, India -----------------------------------------------------*****************------------------------------------------------------------ ABSTRACT Tourist destinations in the Indian Trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh are facing acute solid waste pollution problem which gets aggravated particularly in peak tourist season in the summer. The situation becomes challenging during summer due to fact that tourist outnumber the local population as a result an enormous quantity of garbage is generated in a short span of time. Leh town is the largest town in Trans-Himalayas and also the district head quarter of Leh the largest district of India. The town acts as a halting point and restaurants serve food to tourists, who visit Ladakh as a result enormous quantity of waste is generated. However none of the study has been under taken to analyze the magnitude of waste generation from tourism industry in order to visualize anthropogenic pressureon the destination. Therefore the present research work is a pioneering attempt to estimate the magnitude and spatiotemporal trends of solid waste generation in the restaurant industry of the town. Direct Waste Analysis Method was used and a representative sample of 10% was selected through random sampling technique. The result shows that restaurants in the town generate about 1.15 metric tonnes per day in summer season and while as in winter season only 0.16 Metric tonnes are generated. There has been observed a significant variation in the production regarding the space and time. The data set generated through this pilot study could be indispensable for envisaging an integrated sustainable solid waste management plan for restaurant industry of the town. Moreover the research methodology followed in this research work can be implemented to estimate measure magnitude of waste generation from other sectors of tourism like hotels and gust houses of the town. Key words: Trans-Himalayan, Leh, waste, pressure, solid waste generation INTRODUCTION The hospitality industry in the Ladakh region is growing at an enormous rate. The region being a popular tourist destination in southAsia attracts a huge number of tourists annually (Shah 2014). The restaurant industry is mainly concerned with the preparation and serving of food and drinks to customers. Restaurants generate a tremendous amount of solid wastes including paper, cardboard, plastics, wood, food wastes, glass, metals and hazardous wastes (Festijo and Yuzon, 2013). For successful operation of tourism business, restaurant owners and managers need to continually look for new and better ways to reduce costs and minimize overhead expenses including waste management while meeting customers’ demands (Saarinen 2006). Restaurants are also considered to be an important component of the global food industry and the issue of food waste has implications for food security, environmental sustainability and global hunger (BSR 2014). Astudy in (2013) conducted by Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), on behalf of the Food Waste Reduction Alliance, indicated that more than 84 percent of the food waste generated by restaurants ended up in the landfill (BSR 2013). Globally about8 billion people are to be feed by 2030 and 9 billion by 2050 (BSR, 2014). The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) projects that, under current production and consumption trends, global food production must increase 60 percent by 2050 in order to meet the demands of the growing world population (FAO 2013). Also according to the FAO, without accounting for greenhouse gas emissions from land use change, the carbon footprint of food produced and not eaten is