Sacred Games

Pilgrims are being fast-tracked into 'spiritual tourists'. This places impossible demands on the vulnerable Himalayan region

- Priyadarshini Patel

LATELY, domestic tourism has increased exponentially, especially in the fragile Himalayan region, including the four vulnerable Char Dham valleys. This increased tourist influx is viewed by the government as highly desirable due to economic gains; but the staggering price the Himalaya is paying remains unconsidered. The cost is being borne by drying rivers, retreating glaciers, vanishing forests, collapsing slopes and polluted water bodies. Simply put, the current Level of Himalayan tourism is not respectful of the past, not sustainable in the present, and devastating to the future.

The higher Himalayan ranges are generally steep and narrow valleys, that are also close-ended, generally terminating in impassable glacial terrain. The four dhaams are high mountains, set close together within a 50 km aerial radius, through which the mightiest of Indian rivers—the Alakananda, the Mandakini and the holy Ganga flow, creating beautiful but extremely fragile river-valleys. Hence tourism in the plains is one thing, and tourism in the mountains another matter altogether. But the government, with its eye singly trained on monetary gain, has not carried out any carrying capacity studies to estimate the actual number of visitors the mountains can bear without compromising its ecology, or the unique Pahadi culture. In fact it is hoped that the ‘tourism boom’ will see 6.5 crore visitors to Uttarakhand in 2025, while the population is estimated at merely 1.26 crores.