Environmental Impacts Of Tourism Industry  On J&K

By Aqib Ul Ahad Wani

Tourism is primarily a service industry, relying almost entirely on natural ingredients such as mountains, hills, lakes, reservoirs, Sloan canopy, flora, fauna, and the aesthetic beauty of pleasant climates. However, tourism is not a low-pollution industry. It is increasingly recognized as one of the most polluting industries. 

One of the ugly faces of tourism is environmental damage. Tourism is constantly damaging the natural environment of popular tourist destinations. Tourism can dramatically increase transportation services and deforestation, resulting in air and water pollution. In addition, infrastructure services around tourist destinations in hotels, restaurants, shops, stores and other related industries are constantly growing. This growing infrastructure ultimately destroys the natural environment of the tourist destination if it is not regulated by regulations like the Environmental Protection Act 1986.

Many negative effects on tourists occur when the number of tourists exceeds the capacity of the environment which can compete with the quantity of tourists. Some of the consequences of going beyond ecological potential include pressure on scarce resources such as water, energy, food and natural habitat. In addition, the development of uncontrolled tourism can lead to soil erosion, increased pressure on endangered species of animals and plants, increased risk of deforestation and loss of biodiversity. It also increases emissions from traffic, garbage, sewage production and noise pollution.

Damage to the Natural Environment

With the increase in population and urbanization, tourists increase year by year. It is causing physical damage to the environment. There is an imbalance between the demand of tourists and the physical carrying capacity of the tourist activity area. The expected symbolic relationship between tourism and security is broken in such cases, resulting in an environmental crisis.

Jammu and Kashmir have tremendous potential to attract tourists to promote sustainable tourism in the Kashmir Valley. Still, at the same time, the result suggests that to enhance human well-being, we have to make the environment a priority. And limit tourism to the potential of the tourism—region to promote sustainable tourism in Kashmir Valley. Many tourist destinations in India, especially religious shrines, have exceeded their capacity. An example is the Amaranth Yatra. Muhammad Sultan Bhatt, head of the Department of Geography and Regional Development at the University of Kashmir, said an environmental impact assessment of Lidder Valley found that the area could carry only 4,300 pilgrims daily. But on average, more than 12,000 pilgrims visit the cave daily in the first months of the Amarnath Yatra. Global warming is already affecting the glaciers around the shrine, and human pressure increases the effect. Due to overcrowding, Lord Shiva’s lingam (naturally formed stalagmite) is steadily declining in size each year and is melting entirely before the end of the Yatra season in the valley. It is self-defeating. If this limit of carrying capacity is not overcome in a few decades, we may not have the lingam to go and pray. Therefore, there is an urgent need to limit the number of tourists and improve the management of the place. We can learn some lessons from our neighbor Bhutan in doing so. Bhutan has controlled the number of tourists by promoting high-value tourism.

Snowfall Imbalance

Climate change is wreaking havoc on the Kashmir Valley’s snowfall equilibrium. Kashmir attracts a vast number of tourists due to its snow-covered adventure activities. The recent increase in temperature, lack of snowfall throughout the winter season, and excessive rains are all apparent evidence of climate change in the valley. According to a study done by the National Institute of Hydrology, glacier volumes in Jammu and Kashmir’s Zanskar Adgator Himalayan mountains have fallen by 3.6 percent and 97 percent in the last three decades in Roorkee, Ladakh. The majority of glaciers are represented and reduced by 17 percent to 25 percent. The lack of snowfall is impacting the UT’s freshwater supplies and its industry. That is why long-term development is required. The uneven pattern of rainfall is another consequence of climate change. As a result, natural disasters such as drought and flooding have grown increasingly common. The devastating floods of September 2014 were caused by recent extreme climate change.

Change in Climate

As a climatic response sector, tourism is directly affected by any adverse climate change in the region, such as climate change, storms, floods, snowfall, heavy rainfall, etc. Global tourism cannot be excluded from the list of sources of climate change because it involves the movement of people and the creation of facilities for travelers and is, therefore, a secondary source of climate change. It is estimated that the activity of people from one destination to other alone accounts for 50% of the total traffic (road, railway, and air), thus contributing to the emission of greenhouse gases and other primary pollutants. The average temperature rise in Kashmir Valley over the last two decades, as reported by IMD (Indian Meteorological Department), Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government, was 1.45 degrees Celsius against 2.32 degrees Celsius in the Jammu region.

Pollution of Water-bodies

Natural water resources can be severely damaged due to hotels, restaurants, and accommodation services if proper sewerage disposal systems for hotels, resorts, and other tourist facilities are not installed. Sewage can contaminate groundwater if the sewage discharge is made in a nearby river, lake, or coastal seawater area. This situation is common in areas of beach resorts, where hotels form an outfall in the adjacent water area, which can be used by tourists for swimming or even for fishing by the locals. In surface water, recreational and tourist transport motorboats pollute rivers, lakes, and seawater due to the spread of oil and gas and the clearing of their bulges in the water.

The UT of Jammu and Kashmir, especially the Kashmir Valley, is characterized by some beautiful lakes. However, the ecosystem of these lakes is rapidly deteriorating due to tourism. Dal Lake in Srinagar, famous for its geography and stunning beauty, is pathetic. Its crystal clear water has become highly polluted, foul odor. It has suffered from eutrophication, siltation, encroachment, growing vegetables in floating fields, and wastewater discharge. Not only is its water-covered area shrinking, but it is also shrinking. Its water quality is the worst in the Himalayan region. Wrappers, plastic bags, tins, cans, rags, vegetable peels, empty cigarette butts, rubbish, and countless bushes can be seen floating in its water, affecting the lake’s shape. The area of ​​Dal Lake, which was 22 sq km in 1931, has shrunk to only 15 sq km in 1999. Out of the current size of ​​Dal Lake, only 11 sq km has water. About 5,000 people were found living permanently on houseboats.

Air Pollution

Tourism is generally considered a “smoke-free industry.” But it can also cause air pollution in a particular area by tourist vehicles, especially in significant attractions that are only accessible by road. This is due to improper maintenance of the vehicle exhaust system. In addition, in the case of dust or dirt in the air, pollution can arise from open, vegetated areas if tourism development is not adequately planned, developed, landscaped, or built. In Jammu and Kashmir, heavy vehicles and all kinds of two-wheelers, four-wheelers, trucks, buses, carriage vehicles, passenger vehicles, yatri load carriers, armed forces during the tourist season vehicles, construction equipment vehicles, and tent replicas. Transport vehicles, etc., are disturbing the ecological balance of the place.

Impacts on wildlife

Wildlife can be adversely affected by constructing and maintaining tourist infrastructure and activities. Impacts from tourist infrastructure can be direct, such as when development in lower elevations of mountain resorts restricts the migratory range of certain wildlife, or indirect, such as when automobiles’ headlights and resort illuminations disorient marine turtles. The two primary ways tourist activities disturb the wildlife are by altering their eating habits and feeding patterns and altering their habitat. Feeding patterns are changed directly by tourists feeding animals and indirectly by littering, which encourages wildlife to scrounge for food. Wildlife habitat is altered by tourists’ trampling and by the use of off-road vehicles(ORVs)

What should be done?

To protect Kashmir, a sustainable tourism model is needed. This includes Promoting, eco-friendly practices like reducing waste, conserving water, and involving local Communities in tourism decisions. Infrastructure should be built to withstand extreme weather, and tourism offerings should be diversified  to avoid the overcrowding during peak tourist seasons.

Views expressed in the story are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial stance of Kashmir Observer 

• The author is an Advocate currently practicing in Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh High Court  and holds a Masters Degree in Environmental Laws. Views expressed are exclusively his own and can be reached at [email protected]

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