Kashmir boasts of unique natural beauty. It is the main plank of our State’s publicity for tourism. Pahalgam and Gulmarg are two most outstanding tourist sites in the State and maximum number of tourists from within and outside the country is eager to visit it. There are no two opinions about the bewitching beauty and pristine purity of nature in these two sites. It is like a dreamland. However, the bounty of nature notwithstanding, a tourist site becomes really enjoyable if it is accompanied by human ingenuity and taste for beauty. Everywhere in the world, a grand tourist spot is actually manicured and made presentable. An important component of the manicured site is the facility and convenience made available to the tourists. Unfortunately, we do not have much to boast about the positive role played by human ingenuity in making these sites really tourism-oriented. Ground reality is that instead of adding to the attraction, beauty and aesthetics of these sites, we are actually doing the reverse of it. We are doing everything that reduces the scenic beauty of the site, contaminates its ecology, pollutes the air and disfigures what otherwise would be a source of pleasure and comfort to the eye.
We are making these observations with specific reference to Pahalgam. Baisaran meadow in famed Pahalgam tourist destination is a fantastic place maintained by the local herdsmen for decades as the grazing ground of the flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. Its natural setting has remained intact for centuries because of the reason that there has not been human intervention at any point of time. But recently, some eccentric planner in the State Tourism Department nursed the phantasmal idea of opening Baisaran meadow to sports activities solely with the motive of earning fat money for the Pahalgam Development Authority (PDA). What is more shocking is that the Forest Department, which usually is considered very conservative in making even the smallest concession in regard to the maintenance of ecology of forests and forest lands, has succumbed to the persuasions of the Tourism Department and has not raised its voice against an effort that was bound to degrade the ecological status of the tourist site. Needless to say that Pahalgam has already become a victim of vandalism on the part of land grabbers and encroachers and the place has lost much of its shine and grace owing to shabby and offensive market sites and private structures that have lately come up. All this deformation of the tourist site has happened because of the negligence of the Tourism Department and the greed haunting the PDA to amass wealth, which, however, has less accountability and more promiscuity. We have the Forest Protection Act and Environment Act 1986, which clearly lay down the norms of protecting and maintaining forests and forest environments. Any violation of the Act is tantamount to punitive action under law. But in utter disregard of the provisions of the Act, Pahalgam Development Authority (PDA) is pushing virgin Baisaran meadow in famed Pahalgam tourist destination into environmental disarray by unlimited human intervention. We have reports that Pahalgam Development Authority has earned millions of rupees from Baisaran in the form of entry fee and by allowing unregulated sports activities like Zorbing. In doing so both PDA and Forest Department have totally failed to save the sensitive and ecologically fragile meadows of Baisaran to the extent that they are destroying the very thing that earns them good deal of money. Our reports show that local people have repeatedly approached the Tourism Department authorities and drawn their attention to the degradation of environs caused by opening the Baisaran to sports and thus exposing the delicate site to intrusion by irresponsible persons. Their pleading has fallen on deaf ears. Local people are disappointed to the extent that they are thinking of taking the case to the Green Tribunal Court. The strange thing is that the Pahalgam Development authority is a Government organization and Tourism is a Government Department. How come that the Government works against its own interests and against the interest of the people. It is intriguing that despite fervent requests by the locals, Tourism Department authorities are unwilling to fence the entire Baisaran and thus protect it from intervention. The real malaise lies in PDA outsourcing the maintenance and operations of all important places in Pahalgam for money. This practice is leading to a dangerous and rapid destruction of the natural beauty and ecological balance of these fragile local ecosystems.
We would like to caution the Department of Tourism that it is taking things lightly in regard to ecological imbalance of Pahalgam and the Baisaran meadow. Anybody can file a PIL and then the court will come down with a heavy hand. There are already many serious complaints of mal-administration in Pahalgam and the Baisaran case is adding fuel to fire. This is high time for the Tourism Department to act and stop vandalizing of this world famous tourist site.
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