Millions across Asia rely on Himalayan water but this natural source is now being taken for granted as human activities are stressing the Himalayan water system. Thanks to unplanned development, the population explosion and a heavy influx of tourists, the region is in the throes of a crisis
As ironical as it may sound, Himalayas — one of the most pristine source of water for mankind since ages are now unable to spare water, resulting in many of the mountainous urban spaces struggling to make their ends meet as far as drinking water is concerned. In fact, millions across Asia rely on the Himalayan water but this natural source is now being taken for granted as human activities are stressing Himalayan water system. Thanks to unplanned development, the population explosion and a heavy influx of tourists, the region is in the throes of a crisis.
like each year, this year too, serene hills of the Himalayas are witnessing a huge tourist load, putting unimaginable pressure on the delicate mountain ecology besides natural resources. The unfortunate part is the fact that authorities, especially the urban planning offices in these areas, are unable to adopt best practices that are being followed around the world in preserving the high altitude resources and ecology.
The situation in mainstream hill stations such as Mussoorie and Shimla is particularly grim. For instance, the daily requirement for water in Shimla is 40 million litres, whereas, the supply is 20 million litres. This deficit gap tends to expand manifold during the summer tourist season. The resultant water crisis is forcing the Shimla Municipal Corporation to supply water once in four or five days and, that too, is not enough to cater to the city’s population.
The root cause is the fact that Shimla with a population of 1,70,000, is largely still trying to survive on the water network setup for a population of 30,000 people in the year 1875. The incessant tourist influx and the nearly 70,000 floating population is only exacerbating the situation. Add to this, Shimla’s parched status is accentuated because it’s perched at a height of 7,000 feet above sea level and can’t hold water, which trickles down at a rapid rate. This is pretty much the story of all of our Himalayan urban locations.
The snowcapped tourist locations across the world face similar challenges but their methods of responding to these challenges are inspiring and path changing. lets take the case of Switzerland. Tourism is a serious business for the Swiss as it accounts for nearly 3.5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and foreign tourists account for approximately six per cent of the income generated by exports in Switzerland. This places tourism in the third position of Swiss exports. Tourism in Switzerland is also an important employer with nearly in 4.5 per cent of jobs directly generated by this industry.
The Alps are among the most visited regions. About 60-80 million people visit the Alps each year as tourists. Tourism activities in the Alps generate close to EUR 50 billion in annual turnover. There are over 600 ski resorts and 10,000 ski installations in the Alps.
These figures show the extent of tourist pressures faced by Switzerland and yet the country has been able to effortlessly handle the ever-growing tourist influx year after year and this has been possible due to scientific planning and efficient resource management by the Swiss authorities.
Climate change is slowly entering into decision-making of a range of tourism stakeholders and studies are commissioned to examine the climate change risk on tourism and how to adapt for the same, while increasing the public awareness for maintaining natural resources of the region.
India must rapidly adopt measures that can safeguard the fragile ecology of the mountainous urban regions. Vehicular traffic and population pressure must be regulated in order to preserve these locations. The authorities must ease the burden by prohibiting further construction activities in core municipal areas and not giving licenses for additional hotels.
Moreover, tourist load must be distributed by getting idle capacity of hotels in the surrounding areas included in the tourism management strategy. This will not only improve economy but also relive the pressure on the main urban centers. Additionally, unauthorised tourist entertainment facilities that are neither ecologically friendly nor having required permissions must be closed immediately.
The authorities must also focus on the rampant use of plastic and abysmal systems of waste disposal, which are all adding to the problem. These corrective actions may still redeem for us the lost purity of our Himalayan urban spaces.
(The writer is an environmental journalist)
