A trek away from disaster — II

The Himachal Pradesh chief minister recently announced that the state government has identified 50 new locations to develop tourism, including adventure sports. The prospect fills me with dread, because the government's track record in this respect has been an environmental disaster so far. Forget the mess in Shimla, Manali, Kufri, Mashobra, McLeodganj or Kasauli. In recent years this tentacle of "development" has seized within its coils places which were pristine areas even 10 or 15 years ago.

The government concept of development usually consists of just building bad roads to provide easier vehicular access to these areas, and to allow the mushrooming of hotels, shops, guest houses, home stays without any regulation or regard to carrying capacity.

I can quote any number of examples of places which have been turned into environmental shambles to "promote" tourism: Bir-Billing, where so many unauthorised constructions have come up that paragliders have difficulty in locating safe landing spots (and now a wholly unnecessary motorable road is being built from Billing to Rajagunda, towards the majestic Thamsar pass, which will spoil a lovely trek); the road to the sublime Hatu peak above Narkanda: what was once an idyllic 8 km walk through dense deodar and oak forests has now been converted into a 20-minute drive, and the once verdant pastures at the top have become rutted and dusty parking areas.

A road has been built right up to Prashar lake in Mandi district — it has devastated the meadows there, and the unscientific cutting has become the cause of continuous landslides; another 10 km road is being built right through the heart of the Choordhar wildlife sanctuary (WLS) from Nohradhar, and just last week, the NGT (National Green Tribunal) has issued notice to the state government for constructing a road through Shikari Devi WLS.

All this is just sheer madness — these roads will result in deforestation on a massive scale, calamitous effects on the wildlife in the dense forests, unregulated construction and the consequent scarring of the landscape, generation of thousands of tonnes of muck and debris, blocking of nullahs and water courses, the ingress of thousands of vehicles and even more thousands of irresponsible tourists every day.

The revered pilgrimages that added so much value to the traditions and mystique of the state — Mani Mahesh in Chamba, Shikari Devi in Mandi, Kheerganga in the Parvati valley, Kinner Kailash in Kinnaur, Srikhand Mahadev on the border of Shimla and Kullu — now look like mass migration routes between Columbia and Mexico.

Tens of thousands of so called "pilgrims" descend on these valleys and mountains every year, leaving behind thousands of tonnes of garbage, plastic, and human waste, and denuding the nearby forests for their cooking and camp fires. Even the highly endangered and precious 'dhoop' shrubs are pulled out by their roots and used for fuel.

What were once challenging but enjoyable treks have now become Ola and Uber rides or overcrowded linear garbage dumps, and the natural wonders of the state are being consumed irreparably at a frightening pace. The wild is being removed from the wilderness.

It is high time the state government reversed this trend and changed its policies at least towards the few remaining genuine wild spots in the state. We have to preserve this wilderness, their ecology and biodiversity and wildlife for future generations.

Other countries have realised this and are taking steps in this direction: from Australia to Brazil, from the UK to Chile, landscapes, abandoned farmlands, ranches, golf clubs, and used-up quarries are being returned to the wild and reforested, not just by governments but also by private trusts and philanthropists who raise funds for the purpose. Himachal should learn from them, even if the rest of India doesn't.

First, control the numbers. Another troubling proclamation by the chief minister is that the state intends to more than double its tourist arrivals to 50 million by 2030. This would be apocalyptic — there is just no way a state of 7 million can sustainably handle such a number, seven times its population.

Instead, go in for quality, not mass, tourism. Forget about the bleeding hearts who object to pricing out the 'poor': tourism is a product, like any other, and if you have a unique product (like Himachal's natural landscapes) don't short sell it. If people can pay Rs 500 for a trash Salman Khan film, or thousands for a Coldplay live performance, they should not complain if they are asked to pay the same, or more, for the sighting of a brown bear or a western tragopan in the Great Himalayan National Park, or to see the coruscating beauty of the night sky at Mantalai lake.

Second, start charging for treks, depending on their length, environmental impact, altitude, proximity to glaciers and snowfields, fragility of the landscape, and number of camping nights. One was happy to read that trekkers and campers at Triund are now being charged Rs 250 per night. It's a good beginning, but the fee needs to be raised to at least Rs 500 per night.

Triund is right at the base of the Dhauladhars, the terrain is rocky and fragile, it has no water or toilet disposable facilities; the footprint of any camper there is huge, and he/she should be charged proportionately. For longer treks, the charges should be a minimum of Rs 500 per night. Part of this levy should go the local EcoSoc (Ecotourism Society) for maintenance and cleanliness of the trails/areas.

Three, impose a complete ban on camping at altitudes above 3800 metres or in the vicinity of glaciers. This is also the recommendation of a group of scientists/geologists who have studied the impact of camping at high altitudes in Ladakh, Himachal, and Uttarakhand ('Save the Himalayas: Ban high-altitude camping, say ecologists', HimbuMail, 5 August 2024).

They have found that the camp fires, vehicle emissions, decaying waste matter etc. raise the levels of aerosols and black carbon in the immediate area, leading to a more rapid melting of the glaciers. They have specifically noted this process in the Bara Shigri glacier and in the Chandratal-Batal area in Lahaul Spiti. There is also the issue of trash and human waste left behind in these pristine landscapes, exposing the local rare wildlife to germs and diseases they have no immunity against. 

It was heartening to note that, as of last month, the local divisional forest officer has banned camping at Kheerganga in the Parbati valley in Kullu. (Last time I was there, the place looked like the Tibetan Dhaba area of north Delhi). This bold initiative, however, has to be extended to other environmentally sensitive areas such as: Chandratal lake, Mantalai lake, all the area above Bhim Dwar on the Srikhand Mahadev trek, the entire area between Nalanti and Chitkul on the Kinner Kailash trek, the Choordhar peak. The forest department should do a survey of such areas and compile a list for purposes of notification and enforcement.

Four, the Himachal govt. should wake up to the massive degradation that is being caused by so-called "spiritual tourism" in the remoter regions of the state, triggered by the flood of humanity that swamps these destinations every year.

Just to give an example: in 1976, as the SDM Chamba, I had accompanied the yatra to the holy Manimahesh lake: at that time, there were perhaps just about 300 pilgrims, but even then it was a problem ensuring the cleanliness of the camping grounds at Hadsar, Dhancho, Donali and Gauri Kund.

After this year's yatra 8 tonnes of garbage has already been collected by volunteers but much more still remains. Today, about 6 to 7 lakh people visit the lake on the yatra. This is simply unsustainable: I'm told the lake is full of trash and plastic, the entire trail resembles an elongated latrine pit. I have no reason to believe that the same is not happening to other yatra trails — Shikari Devi, Kinner Kailash, Choordhar, Srikhand Mahadev.

The government should immediately do something about restricting the numbers on these yatras, before we reach the same depths of degradation and destruction as the Char Dham yatra of Uttarakhand. (To realise what the deplorable current state of the Char Dham yatra route is, one must read an article by Priyadarshani Patel — 'Char Dham to Char Daam: Desecrating the Himalayas in the Name of Spiritual Tourism' in the Wire of 13 July 2024).

And finally, even nature needs a rest to recover. All trekking trails, especially the high-altitude ones, should be shut down for a year or two at periodic intervals to allow the ecology and wildlife there to recover and recuperate, reclaim their natural and breeding rhythms, to get a respite from the incessant noise, disturbances and foraging of plant life by thousands of trekkers every year. Many countries faced with similar over-trekking issues are beginning to realise this and have started providing these regular breaks.

The policy makers in Himachal need to wake up urgently to preserve the unique natural landscape of the state. Its over exploitation should be stopped before the devastation reaches a point of no-return. Sustainable policies should be put in place which harvest natural assets scientifically and not squander them recklessly for short term gains. Mother nature will not offer a second chance.

Read part one of this two-part article here

Views are personal

Avay Shukla is a retired IAS officer and the author of Disappearing Democracy: Dismantling of a Nation and other works. He blogs at avayshukla.blogspot.com