Regardless of your trekking itinerary, it’s of the utmost importance to think about the environment first, do whatever you can to keep it safe by recycling. Throwing one plastic bottle off a cliff might not seem much to you, but imagine what would happen if 100 travelers doing the same thing at once.
Being a worshiper of Himalayan ranges, I have a huge concern about the outburst and rapid climate change. It is a cause of concern to the entire human race to our existence but don't know how aware are we about that as an individual or are we really doing anything about that to take some actions on time.
To be more specific let me concentrate largely on Ladakh region since I know how badly we are spoiling this highly sensitive region not realizing the geographical importance of this place for India. Before I start let me highlight few factors which have caused a huge damage to this place in recent times:
I take you guys back in 2008 when the social media evolution started - no doubt this has boosted the travel industry in large but how many of you also agree with me that has also welcomed people to explore some of the untouched territories in volume, I am not just blaming social media solely for this change but can't ignore the repercussions as well.
social media evolution
Besides Social Media strangely our new-age mass Bollywood movies like 3idiots, Yeh Jawaani yeh Deewani, etc also boosted new trends like traveling to unexplored places of Ladakh, Spiti, and Lahaul or activities like trekking and hiking in the Himalayas. I remember back in the late '90s when I started trekking in the Himalayas there were barely people going for any sort of adventure activities now it has become a trend like any other fashion activity to tell the world they are travelling to some of the unexplored/ untouched places...not saying people should not travel but more and more social media exposure has taken away the charm of these place.
I don't want to debate here whether people are responsible enough while trekking to these places or not since this blog is not about that, will do that in some other note but here my concern is little more serious...that are we really aware of our environment or by traveling here what are we really causing to the vegetation of this place???
My other bigger concern came after the abrogation of article 370. You all must be wondering how and what Article 370 has to do with climate. Though its a sensitive topic to pick which has lot of political implications but its important to talk about it since here the concern is environment and what it will cause to this region specifically which I am penning down below to understand:
There are a lot of arguments around this whole article - One side some people are extremely thrilled after the abrogation whatever Jammu & Kashmir people were deprived of since will be taken care off - interms of development in this region + half a million people directly or indirectly involved in the tourism industry on hills will get better opportunities and will help in boosting the local economies across Kashmir, Leh, and Ladakh.
On the other side, researchers, environmentalists, some locals, activists, etc...have bigger concerns about climate change as well. This boom will help in economy and development in short term at the cost of destroying the overall climate for good...with the volume of people traveling here will push hotel construction, overall water consumption, increase in fuel emission due to number of cars around, generators usage or plastic waste in huge quantities...imagine what will happen in the next few years with all this and more.
With tourists from all over India and the world moving into these places in droves, rubbish now threatens not just the ecology but the tourism industry itself. Environmentalists are already expressing their concerns about the policy paralysis.
The experts maintain that construction should be prohibited in this volume. But our authorities have not only allowed construction of hotels right on the most scenic spots but has also failed to provide adequate disposal systems for solid and liquid waste.
To make things worse, these states especially Ladakh also suffer from major electricity shortages, which means hotels, restaurants, shops and commercial enterprises all use highly polluting diesel generators for hours every day. Environmentalists are fearful of the effect on the surrounding glaciers and endangered animals – like the snow leopard and the red deer – in the state’s protected forests. The insects or the vegetation which were not seen earlier are available. The waste generated by hundreds of thousands of tourists is thrown around without any treatment or scientific management. Plus the water consumption by each of these regions has increased the concern for water shortage in years to come..my list is endless...but I know everyone is seeing the short-term benefit and dismissing the larger picture.
I know researchers have already suggested a few ideas from below but I still want to highlight few more for you all to realize how all of us collectively can help in saving our Himalayas at some level:
I know these may be extreme steps but if we don't do this today we'll end up causing more problems in the long run.
Take example and learnings from our neighbors - Bhutan/Nepal has put up a cap on tourists traveling to certain regions in their country every year. Why cant we impliment something like this for atleast to a place like Ladakh.
Bhutan successfully running fixed travelers quota which only permits a number of people traveling to their country in a year. Why can't we limit the number of people traveling here? the permits can be issued on a first come first basis. I know locals may get worried about the commercial benefits for themselves but that can also be handled if they put a cap on minimum spend by each traveler like I have seen in Bhutan/Nepal. Each traveler has to spend a minimum amount of 50+ dollars a day for domestic and 200+ dollars from Foreign nationals so that way they also benefit commercially.
Banning all private diesel and petrol cars in areas like Khardungla or Changla Pass. By issuing permits to locals only for X number of cars (numbers can be decided my authorities) or say by only letting horses or electric vehicles to be passed can help in controlling fuel pollution at some level. I am excluding all Army and Govt vehicles from this list since we know why they are sitting in these border areas but yes other commercial vehicles need to be controlled.
Awareness programs where hotel industry/ or authorities can ask tourists to conserve water as less as possible or help in less wastage. for eg; by not taking a shower for bathing than using bucket water or skipping bathing for a day or two - its anyways a cold region a day without bath wont harm you much:) or by not giving towels everyday for washing...I mean lets do our bit at whatever level we can possibly do.
Or for that matter to buy less pet water bottles instead carrying their own bottles from home or buy it from their which can be refilled it from their hotels or restaurants to reduce this excess plastic waste.
It’s important for tourism to respect, value, and promote a certain area’s value and it must be sensitive to the demands of the population living in that area. If you’re a trekking adventurer looking to explore the wild territories of the Himalayas, you should value the mountains and its staggering natural habitat. In spite of a code of conduct that must be employed, don't know how many of us still guarantees that the people will protect the environment and think about it seriously.. I JUST HOPE:(
So while the booming tourism industry may bring fresh opportunities in the short-run, there is a fear that, before long, the very features that attract tourists to these regions will work as agents of its destruction.
The choice is ours lets not wait for the worst to happen... I pledge here that I don't want our next generations to be deprived of seeing the beauty of this mother earth not just the glimpse or ruins...I want them to experience or see what we currently managed to see in our lifetime:)