Conserve Kashmir’s eco-fragile tourist spots

After the end of the prolonged dry spell, tourists have been thronging Kashmir’s tourist resorts to enjoy snow-covered mountains and meadows .

Snow spell after drought-like situation and arrival of tourists have been warmly welcomed by people in Kashmir especially tourism stakeholders. Undoubtedly, tourism is one of the major mainstays of J&K’s economy. But we have to understand that the tourism sector will flourish when we care for our eco-fragile environment.

Recent dry spell in the harshest winter period Chillai Kalan must serve as an eye-opener for us. Without snowfall, our tourist destinations wore a deserted look. It is clear that there is a strong relation between tourism and environment. Both are interlinked.

We should not get buoyed by the massive increase in tourist arrivals to Kashmir post snowfall. Every place has its separate carrying capacity which means the maximum number of people a specific habitat can sustainably support. If a population exceeds the carrying capacity, it can cause irreparable damage to the habitat.

One of the famous tourist resorts Gulmarg in north Kashmir Baramulla district is a major attraction for tourists and skiers, including foreigners. The ski-resort is nestled in forests and mountains. Gulmarg is often called ‘Switzerland of Kashmir’ for its stunning natural beauty.

Here the government and stakeholders have to be careful. The ski-resort is burdened by a massive tourist rush surpassing its carrying capacity. This can affect solid waste management and also have horrendous ramifications on wildlife including bears and snow leopards besides hundreds of plant species and avifauna in the resort.

Gulmarg has been witnessing frequent avalanches for the last several years. Environmentalists mince no words to blame increased footfall of tourists exceeding carrying capacity for affecting snow cover, triggering rise in temperature which results in avalanches.

There has been mushroom growth of snow bikes and All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs). These fuel-run vehicles not only pollute the environment but also vandalise snow cover and fragile mountains in absence of regulation.

As per a study ‘Black carbon in contrasting environments in India: Temporal variability, source apportionment and radiative forcing’, air quality is deteriorating fast, especially in Gulmarg and Srinagar due to increased human and mechanical interventions.

The study published in ‘Atmospheric Environment’ a prestigious science magazine has been conducted by Baseerat Romshoo of Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig Germany, Mudasir Ahmad Bhat of Department of Geoinformatics, University of Kashmir and Gazalla Habib of Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD), India.

The study analyses Black Carbon (BC) data from three different environments in India— Delhi megacity, Srinagar metropolitan and Gulmarg hill station. The study shows that Delhi had the highest annual average Black Carbon concentration (12.3 ± 10.2 μg m− 3 ), followed by Srinagar (4.3 ± 5 μg m− 3 ) and Gulmarg (2.4 ± 2 μg m− 3. Srinagar had the highest average seasonal Black Carbon during autumn (6.3 μg m− 3 ) due to the burning of horticulture residue and hardwood for charcoal making and residential heating. In Gulmarg, the winter season’s high Black Carbon (2.2 μg m− 3 ) is due to increased emissions from tourist traffic, snowmobiles, All Terrain Vehicles and wood burning for residential heating, the study reveals.

“Black Carbon concentrations in Delhi and Srinagar were roughly in line with their population size. However, compared to sites with the similar population, Black Carbon at Gulmarg was roughly twice higher than the other sites. “There was a higher contribution to Black Carbon from fossil fuels than biomass burning at all three sites, which indicates that cars are the primary source of pollutants.

Earlier only a limited number of vehicles were allowed to ply in tourist resorts in Kashmir. Now all vehicles with chains on tyres are permitted. This means an inflow of more vehicles including diesel run tourist vehicles. Subsequently this contributes to the pollution load of tourist resorts.

Likewise other tourist resorts in Kashmir including Pahalgam, Sonamarg and emerging tourist places like Doodhpathri, Sinthan Top too are facing pressure due to massive flow of visitors. In view of changing climatic patterns and increasing temperatures in Kashmir, there is a need to go sustainable tourism. We have to ensure that the natural habitat of our tourist resorts is not disturbed at any cost. This is must to prevent man-made disasters.

We must note that nothing is more important than preserving the environment. There must be a cap on tourists visiting tourist resorts as per respective carrying capacities. Stakeholders need to promote lesser known tourist spots to reduce immense pressure on Gulmarg, Sonamarg and Pahalgam.

This is high time to promote eco-tourism which is emerging as one of the important sectors globally. Eco-tourism has assumed importance as it encourages people to learn and conserve diverse landscapes, wildlife and cultures.

Many places in the world are thriving due to the promotion of Eco-tourism. We need to take cue from Bhutan which has been charging tourists daily Sustainable Development Fee. The country uses this money on eco-projects including offsetting its carbon footprint from tourism, supporting community education, organic farming and upskilling workers in the tourism industry.

When a downtrodden place like Kenya can be billed as one of the best eco-tourism sites in Africa, why can’t Kashmir?

Kashmir has a unique landscape with mountains, forests, rivers, lakes, wetlands. Kashmir has the potential to emerge as one of the best ecotourism destinations. We need to take utmost care for environmental preservation and subsequently all sectors including tourism will flourish and sustain. But what matters is resolve and love for the environment!

Author is Executive Editor, Greater Kashmir.