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| Spiritual Tourism and Environment | | | R.K.Khajuria* | 2/25/2010 1:47:37 AM |
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“Don’t encourage spiritual tourism”& save the environment from further degradation, mankind from annihilation” should be the mantra to save something for the future. Going by the records, this type of tourism, mostly concentrated in the Himalayas, is playing havoc in many ways, leading to all types of pollution and creating much heat and vibrations which are leading to the receding and melting of glaciers,land slides &soil erosion unprecedentedly. This can easily afford to slow down its so called growth, which is otherwise taking a huge, perceptible and imperceptible toll of our environment as a whole. The role of Government to encourage this type of tourism, by creating excessive infrastructure, facilities to meet the ever growing number of such tourists and the modes of transport, is disturbing the very basis of the otherwise very fragile Himalayan landscape. This race between Government to create more and more infrastructure to attract more and more tourists, to earn more bucks, is going to be unending till the whole situation explodes. Taking examples from three states of Uttrakhand, Himachal Pardesh and Jammu & Kashmir, it can be safely said that these states are suffering incurable blows, due to excessive activities on the tourism front.
Uttrakhand:
This state has a very large number of tourist pilgrim destinations, one being the Char Dham yatra in the Teri region with over two dozen big and small spots like Kedar Nath, Badri Nath, the Parayags, Uttrakashi Gomukh, Gangotri, Yamnotri, Hanuman Chati, Hemkund Sahib to name a few. The months of May and June every year see great rush of yatris to these destination, in buses, taxis, private cars, two wheelers, which leads to many ills like generation of unmanageable solid waste, pollution of air, water, shortage of drinking water and other civic amenities, accommodation, passage to vehicles leading to unprecedented traffic jams for hours and even days together, generation of smoke from the vehicle exhausts, suspended particulate matter, carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide, benzene (from incomplete combustion from motor engines),blackcarbon , vibrations causing direct and indirect damage to the foundation of the hills along the roads, all contributing to a suffocation which directly affects the snow line, a serious cause of receding of glaciers. So much so that the State Government is forced at times to stop the yatra for days together to mitigate the adverse effects of the huge rush of the yatries. Forests and ground cover is the other casualty in this mad rush.
Himachal Pradesh:
This State abounds in pilgrim spots besides the spots of tourist importance. Here also the picture is the same and consequential benefits to the State exchequer and the men on the street are not without a proverbial Shylock’s pound of flesh demand. The State is, thus, visited by a number of calamities, natural and man made. The Government is unable to resist / check the influx of tourists being against the State's announced policy.
Jammu & Kashmir:
This State also abounds in spiritual tourism spots besides the scenic spots and a large number of tourists flock to Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Thus, the ecological threat, which has emerged as a real one, is to the fragile Shivaliks, lower and middle Himalayas. The two religious tourist destinations are Sri Mata.Vaishno. Devi. Shrine and Shri Baba Amar Nath Shrine, both are being controlled by Shrine Boards, headed by the State Governor. The number of pilgrims, the associated infrastructure like labourers, ponis, mules on the track, business activities, of law and order and administrative staff etc., all are a source of a number of ills, but this is unavoidable, because the Boards are required to manage the affairs of these shrines smoothly. The situation prior to the constitution of Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board & takeover of this shrine was, though pathetic, as far as the devotees exploitation at the hands of the vested interests was concerned, the number and frequency of visitors to the Shrine was limited to a few months and the Trikuta Hills were lush green, no shooting stones, no forest fires, pristine BanGanga and Anji nallah water, and this shrine was a source of solace and peace, lot of flora and fauna, which is missing now, or partially replaced by exotic flora. The picture is altogether different, the sanctum sanctorum has two more tunnels entrances, the central spot too artificial, the creation of a concrete jungle along the track to meet the ever increasing demand of the devotees cum tourists, forest fires, problems to dispose of human and animal waste, are some such ills which have cropped up with the ever increasing number of visitors to the shrine. In such circumstances, the degradation of the landscape is inevitable .The situation is going to deteriorate further as there is anticipated further influx of pilgrims to Sri MataVaishno Devi Shrine, where the estimates are being fixed at ten million yatries in another couple of years.
The other such shrine is the Shri Baba Amar Nath Cave Shrine, with natural ice-lingam, has in recent years become a crowd catcher. The catastrophe a few years back, causing large number of causalities and huge suffering to the yatris along the track, forced the Govt. to constitute a Shrine Board to manage the affairs of this holy shrine. Since the Yatra is time specific, i.e. only for about 3 months, of which 2months duration is officially acknowledged, the terrain is tough from both routes viz; the traditional Pahalgam, Chandanwari,Sheshnag, Panjtarani and Baltal, the weather unpredictable, the swelling nos, can not be managed effectively, and the damage to the landscape is inescapable, the solid waste generated can not be disposed off effectively. The heat generated by the presence of thousands of people, mules &ponies, etc. on daily basis for the entire duration, use of fuel wood, cooking gas, etc. are the major causes of glacier recession and melting. As per Board released figures as many as 131 Langers were functioning along the two routes in 2009. The quantity of cooking gas and fuel wood consumed on 24 x 7 basis, consequent heat & smoke are colossal. The helicopter sorties add fuel to the fire. The Lingam melts; the ice/snow along the tracks melts and also looses firmness, needed for the formation and longevity of the glaciers. Gone are the days when the number of pilgrims never exceeded a few thousands, who preferred walking/tracking, very few to use ponies or dandies, who took it as unethical to eat a free meal and sustained their journey on a frugal handful of roasted grams and the gur , the more affluent partook the special dry fruit preparation, the Sund, carried by the pilgrims on their heads/shoulders, braved the vagaries of weather and daunted death. Then the glaciers remained not only intact but also increased in size. Diesel generators, then, were used only at Chandanwari, Sheshnag, Panjtarni and the cave area to provide electricity to a few tents provided for the yatris. Today, the stations and substations along the tracks are having diesel generated light. Imagine the smoke and vibrations thus generated and their impact on the surroundings. If the Sheshnag lake is shrinking, glaciers receding, mountain peaks are covered with small ice cover, no wonder, the worries of H.E. the Governor, Chairman of the Baba Amar Nah Shrine Board, a person with very vast experience of life and a mature foresight ,are well founded. Reconstitution of the Board, empanelment of experts in environmental protection like Dr. Sunita Narayan from CSE & Dr. C. M. Seth (IFS), as consultant Environments, are welcome steps, but the remedy lies elsewhere. It will be good to go for an experiment i.e. to lift all controls, amenities, no langars, no motorable facilities and allow the pilgrims to come on their own and fend for themselves. It will have very positive impact, the yatra will naturally go down at all the hill shrines of these States, this measure being the only solution, though regressive and retrograde apparently, to meet the challenge of removing threat of damage and degradation to the sources, which are the fundamental basis for the sustenance of life on this part of the planet, in this part of the country. As regards the livelihood of the population dependent upon the pilgrim tourist industry, the Govts. should encourage local crafts, food preserves& allied income generating activities. This has been observed that when the no. of pilgrims is less, they are better looked after & eventually spend more at the shrines & along the route. The matter is open for further discussion, this being only an opening bit and any solution/action which can effectively meet the present and future challenges be deliberated upon to formulate effective policies to be executed for the well being of the mankind, present and future generations. |
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