In spite of its millennium-long history and the appealing features of its rich cultural and geographical diversity that has made the country a global tourist destination, tourism in India has come with its own share of woes.
The beaches, mountains, deserts, the temples, churches…. all these have their own relevance when thought of in the larger perspective. They all form a part of the topography of the region and hence are of ‘tourist importance’. Let us not forget the historic marble monument of love, the Taj Mahal!
No doubt the revenue from tourism has substantially contributed towards the nation’s economy, however a major challenge for the industry in India has come from within.
The ever-shifting visa rules quite often leave visitors in the lurch and create inconsistent enforcement. Service, luxury and transportation taxes are high and pinch the pockets of foreign tourists planning a vacation in India.
Besides the security issues of the fairer sex that have proved to be a daunting task for the authorities, with the nation all but sullying its name in the global tourism scenario; the infrastructure problems that beset a visitor travelling to India has been a major impediment to the sustained growth of tourism in the country.
Handicapped by non-availability of good roads, poor connectivity to the tourist destinations and good hotels, India continues to falter in its march towards attaining the numero uno spot as an international tourist destination that cannot be skipped at any cost.
But nothing has been as alarming as the environmental impact that tourism has had on an overcrowded country bursting at the seams.
With a growing tourism industry bemoaning the fact that the country lacks hotel rooms to accommodate the budget sector, the necessity to have the government making one, two and three star hotels a priority is being felt as never before.
However, it becomes difficult to believe that in spite of incentives by the government, hoteliers do not patronise building budget hotels as they think they won’t make any money.
The never-ending constructions and ‘additions’ to the existing structures at almost all tourist places further contradict this contention. Every inch of available land is being rampantly utilised. The ‘home stay’ concept is also trending among domestic and international tourists that have also witnessed a rapid mushrooming of low-budget accommodations.
The match-box like concrete structures doting the skyline greeting visitors to any of the numerous hill-stations may appear fascinating but the manner in which the hills and valleys have been tampered with speaks for the absolute disregard for all environmental laws.
Certain lands and natural areas need to retain their natural characteristic and cannot be tampered with. Laws that decree stringent penalties for compromising with the natural assets of a region have however come a bit too late for solace.
Hill-cutting and mining as some of the activities that damage the natural environment have finally received flak from the courts of law for their illegality and extensiveness. Certain natural ‘assets’ of the region such as rivers, beaches, forests, etc. are held by the government in trusteeship for the free and unimpeded use of the general public and hence cannot become the private property of entrepreneurs.
The onus is on the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to plan harmonious development on the basis of a comprehensive appraisal of environmental issues across the country.
However, it is observed that proper contacts and connections gain the more resourceful ‘rights’ over such prime locations. In fact, if reports are to be believed, a motel owner in Manali, and a powerful politician at that, had the audacity some years back, to think of altering the course of a river to suit the needs of his resort.
The haste shown by hoteliers and other businessmen to cash-in on the tourist boom has very observably placed these places atop a simmering volcano of impending disasters about to erupt any moment. This is a grim truth that the government cannot overlook, but do so for obvious reasons.
This may well compel us to think of tourism as a crisis!
Even so, the ever-increasing complexity of ecological problems should be seen as an opportunity for the world to accelerate the implementation of the green economy and utilisation of sustainable technologies to check any further degradation of the environment.
The environmental impacts of tourism need no special mention here. For a country that has revelled over the joys of tourism and the profits it has yielded over long periods of time, the panic that has suddenly settled over apprehensions of the ‘catastrophic eventuality’ that threatens it could well have been avoided were remedial measures taken at the very onset.
But the ‘turnover blues’ more than anything else continue to compel those in the business to fortify their resources unmindful of the doomsday predictions that welcome every irregularity, every inconsistency that has invariably led to the virtual rape of mother nature, as one would dare call it.
Taking serious cognizance of such matters, the demolition drive ordered by the Supreme Court against unauthorised structures in 13 hotels across the hill resort of Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh did appear very relevant.
But the horrifying killing of Assistant Town Planner Shail Bala Sharma during the anti-encroachment drive by an aggrieved guest-house owner more than epitomises the unrelenting mood of the resort-owners at these vacation locales who perceive a threat to their earnings vis-à-vis the execution of the apex court directives.
That the murderous attack took place in full public view and when the demolition drive of unauthorised constructions was extended sufficient police protection further exemplifies the casualness of the whole approach adopted by the authorities.
Moreover, with the accused remaining untraceable for two whole days even after the massive manhunt launched, the inability of the police in apprehending the culprit paints very ugly scenario of the law and order situation in Himachal Pradesh.
With the opposition Congress staging protests in the state it is to be assumed that the whole incident will very soon take on a political hue and in the melee the victim and her family, which is going through agonising moments, will soon be forgotten.
Meanwhile, the ‘Kasauli murder’ will always continue to be a grim reminder of the astonishing fact that in India refusing to take a bribe is akin to a sin.
Is this really the “Incredible India’ we know it to be!