Tourism lights the hearth every day for many Uttarakhand families. According to Prof Rajnikant Kumar of Amrapali University of Haldwani, tourism in Uttarakhand employs over 650,000 people and contributes more than 24% to the Himalayan state’s GDP. But tourism in its current avatar is reckless, unsustainable, and threatens long-term economic prosperity.
Indian policymakers know what can be done at a macro-level, but it will take time. Meanwhile, as an SOS, the state and local government can focus on measures that will quickly lessen tourism’s footprint.
Private transport is the most visible form of the crisis. Solutions include issuing paid permits for limited numbers to enter, along with limiting not just cars, but types of cars. Why should SUVs jostle with each other to inch ahead on narrow mountain roads? It creates air pollution, overloads the ecosystem and makes life miserable for local residents. Expanding roads leads to landslides. Electric mobility can provide public transportation to cafes and pedestrianised zones, coupled with a business model around parking private vehicles in other decentralised spaces?
To prevent income loss for locals, new nearby destinations can be developed, for example: an easy trek, sunset points, tree walks, local cooking classes and meals at local homes, and yoga weekends based on homestays. The state must invest in these, enabling high-quality, safe alternatives that do not cause the harm of centralised hill tourism. By next year, protocols for safeguarding the forests, gradients and water and incentivising these should be in place. Every year lost ensures we also lose a little more of the Himalayas.
{{/usCountry}}To prevent income loss for locals, new nearby destinations can be developed, for example: an easy trek, sunset points, tree walks, local cooking classes and meals at local homes, and yoga weekends based on homestays. The state must invest in these, enabling high-quality, safe alternatives that do not cause the harm of centralised hill tourism. By next year, protocols for safeguarding the forests, gradients and water and incentivising these should be in place. Every year lost ensures we also lose a little more of the Himalayas.
{{/usCountry}}(The writer is the founder and director of Chintan Environmental Research and Action Groups)