Protect scenic resorts

The unchecked encroachments and illegal earth-cutting at Tangmarg has once again brought to light our utter disregard for nature. Tangmarg is one of the Valley’s prominent scenic resorts contiguous to Gulmarg, so equally frequented by tourists. Those going to Gulmarg have to necessarily pass through Tangmarg, making it an equally familiar tourist resort. However, unscrupulous people looking to exploit the place for personal profit are out to disfigure it through unauthorised constructions.  The allegations of influential individuals exploiting legal loopholes and colluding with authorities cast a shadow over the very institutions tasked with protecting this natural treasure. Reports of forest land being illicitly converted for private gain, including the misuse of boundary areas near Munawar Road and Qazipora, expose a systemic failure to enforce environmental laws.

However, such violations aren’t limited to Tangmarg but extend to other places of tourist importance. Over the last few years, the changing international outlook on Kashmir has translated into the increasing number of tourist arrivals to the union territory. This year alone, an estimated  three million tourists have visited the Valley and many more are expected in winter to witness the snow in the high-altitude tourist resorts like Gulmarg. However, in this heady talk of attracting an ever-increasing number of tourists to the region, no thought is spared for the Valley’s capacity to accommodate this huge rush.

There are two important aspects to the issue that need urgent attention. One is the inadequate tourist infrastructure that makes it difficult to absorb the growing tourist rush and another is the unplanned development and the encroachment of the tourist resorts that is taking place in the garb of providing accommodation to the increasing number of visitors. The indiscriminate and insufficiently regulated construction activity has already taken a heavy toll on Gulmarg and Pahalgam, which are traditionally the first destinations that tourists on their arrival in the Valley visit.

On a positive note,  including MLA Tangmarg Farooq Ahmad Shah and the Deputy Commissioner Minga Sherpa have pledged inquiries. Authorities must act swiftly to dismantle encroachments, prosecute offenders, and restore Tangmarg’s ecological balance before it is irreparably damaged.