Jamming the Slopes

The reported ticketing problems at Gulmarg Gondola evoke memories of how the project came to be and the concomitant issues for visitors who travel long distances to see the place as well as local stake holders.

Built nearly 40 years ago, as a result of the now derided Rajiv-Farooq Accord, the first stage of the Gulmarg Gondola came into being when Delhi agreed to fund a long-felt need. The French firm Pomagalski won the contract.

I had been prematurely recalled from deputation to a posting with Govt. of India in Delhi and put in charge of Tourism Department soon after Pomagalski was allotted the work. RITES, the GoI concern was appointed as technical consultant and project manager.

Everyone was excited because it seemed Gulmarg would now fufil its potential as a major winter resort. All Government Departments fully cooperated, especially the Forest Department, which did not, contrary to expectation, create any difficulty over clearing a corridor in the forest for the first stage to Kongdori.

In early 1989 Govt. of J&K even launched a promotional drive for tourists in Australia and Southeast Asia for skiing holidays in Gulmarg the following winter, which elicited a very good response from travel agents of the region.

The Gondola was built in remarkably quick time, to schedule – the tourists, alas, did not arrive. They couldn’t, rather, because Kashmir in the winter of 1989-90 was not what it had been the year previous. Everything collapsed, all too quickly.

For the next 12 years few tourists came, and the Gondola remained idle. Except for 1999 which opened promisingly with good numbers of tourists arriving. The Kargil war, and sudden closure of the airport mid-May drove out the hordes who had come visiting. Tourism remained depressed till 2003 when under the PDP-Congress coalition tourists ventured forth once more. Soon though, political differences led to religious riots in Jammu and another tourist drought descended which lasted till 2020.

Gulmarg’s gondola was intended to be just the first ropeway of many projects planned in Jammu and Kashmir. Which is why a J&K Cable Car Corporation (CCC) was set up. Tourism Department had envisioned a series of ropeways all over the valley and in Jammu, building on the success of Gulmarg.

Private capital was not so forthcoming in those days, and we believed that Government would have to build the basic infrastructure. It was hoped that, later, private capital might be enticed to join in, and failing that, CCC as a commercial entity would be able to leverage finance from the profits of the first project.

None of that happened. Which partly explains why the current crisis on the slopes. The gondola in Gulmarg is booked months in advance and the queues to board extend for hundreds of metres.

It need not have been this way, but given the circumstances in Kashmir it was perhaps, unavoidable, and may be due to the stop-go, on-ff, nature of tourist arrivals. It prevents any rational investment in infrastructure.

Gulmarg has scope for at least three separate ropeway projects. Work on a second project should have started years ago. The original proposal for a ropeway was not the current Kongdori alignment, but at Khilanmarg on the further side of the Gulmarg bowl, near the army encampment. For reasons that were not clear even then, the alignment was shifted from Khilanmarg to Kongdori and re-tendered.

Khilanmarg in fact is the ideal site for a ropeway, being free of avalanches and offering superior slopes for skiing. A third possibility is a ropeway direct from Ferozepur nallah up to Apharwat which would offer very long ski runs and vertical descents of almost 2000 metres, something found in very few resorts worldwide. A ropeway can even be constructed from the Baba Reshi side to Gulmarg for direct access to the meadow. Automotives could then be banned within the bowl with internal transport through electric trolley buses.

The obvious solution to the problem of the jams at Gulmarg gondola is for the CCC to build a second ropeway at Khilanmarg, either jointly with a private company, or by private entrepreneurs alone. Given the absurd rush for seats on the existing ropeway positive cash flows are almost guaranteed for a second ropeway.

Though private entrepreneurs are now able to take up these projects by themselves it is perhaps better to keep the CCC involved; for two reasons. First, as a government agency it can help in the tedious and difficult process of governmental clearances, and, second, because the projects must come up on government owned land, the CCC can retain Government’s equitable and financial interest better perhaps than a mere lease of the sites to private parties.

Unlike ski resorts elsewhere in the world, gondolas in Gulmarg attract multi seasonal traffic. In Europe and the US, ski resorts are deserted in the summer. The Indian tourist’s fascination with snow ensures that the lifts run well into summer when snow is only to be seen at the mountain tops.

Ski slopes grade off into degrees of difficulty. In most ski resorts abroad, there are different ski lifts for slopes graded by colour from green (beginner) to black (expert). A properly built ski resort would naturally have all this planned into its design. Gulmarg is, unfortunately, still very far from being a properly designed ski resort, let alone a properly constructed one. Despite its popularity with Indian tourists, it lacks the infrastructure and facilities even for summer visitors beyond a small number. It remains at best a very tacky sort of place.

In Europe a ski resort can have as many as 5000 rooms to cope with the weekend ski crowd. Zermatt in Switzerland as an example, admittedly an extreme one, has over 300 kilometres of ski slopes connected by multiple lifts. It shows how far behind we are. Gulmarg probably has less than 500 quality rooms and one inadequate lift.

The question remains of course whether Gulmarg wants that many resident visitors? There are economies of scale involved in creating a ski resort, or even a year-round destination. Small and quaint can be charming, in its own way, but is that what we want to promote

We are beginning to see reflections of satiety in Kashmir. How many visitors are too many, before a Barcelona type reaction sets in with slogans of ‘Tourists go Home’ painted on the walls. Recently in Portugal crowds took to the streets protesting too many tourists.

Gulmarg also has the problem of ‘apres ski’, after the skiing – what to do in the evenings, which exists winter and summer. Tourist resorts, West or East, have restaurants, bars, designer shops, lit up streets, and varied forms of entertainment. Our resorts have mostly shut down by 4pm. Respecting cultural sensitivities is important, and these impose limitations on what may be feasible. Back in the 70s and 80s it was never a problem, but the altered sense of values since then must compel a reconsideration.

Proper development of tourist resorts in Kashmir requires expert and experienced town planning. Our town planning agencies probably lack the experience and skills for the task. There should be no shame in accepting this fact and engaging the best firms in the world, not just to create master plans for our resorts, but oversee the implementation of the plans. The best laid plans go awry when left in the hands of the Public Works Departments.

Sonmarg is the latest example of destroyed potential and wasted effort. Much could be written about how the hope of creating a world class resort at this spectacularly beautiful place were destroyed by bad town planning. One hopes Bungus is spared the vicious plot parcelling that destroyed Sonmarg. There are things to be said about Bangus and the more immediate potential of Doodpathri, but these require a separate discussion.

 The author is a retired IAS officer