Col B S Nagial (Retd)
India is one of the most ecologically diversified nations in the world. It has a variety of landscapes, such as illustrious mountains, oceans, mesmerising deserts, beautiful lakes and backwaters, and rich forests. One such landscape is the high-altitude cold desert of Ladakh, also known as ‘moon land’, which lies in the northernmost inaccessible part of India and has beautiful Buddhist monasteries. By its location and remoteness, Ladakh is a tremendously ecologically sensitive place that garners dividends from the tourism industry.
Tourism has earned substantial recognition as an essential industry in Ladakh because it has the potential to generate employment opportunities and enhance income sources. Tourism has its effects on the socio-economic sector of Ladakh. People from other industries, such as transportation & logistic, hotel, catering & restaurants, cottage industry, etc., perceive befitting opportunities in the tourism sector. However, regrettably, all these activities have severely affected the natural resources and disturbed the ecological balance.
Mountains over the world are taken as indicators of climate change. Ladakh’s distinctive cold-arid climate is located south of the Karakorum range. Having infrequent water resources, such regions show high susceptibility and vulnerability to the change in climate and require significant attention and care.
Studying varied temperature and precipitation data indicates this region’s current trends of climatic patterns. The climate over Leh shows a warming trend with reduced precipitation in the current decade. The reduced average seasonal precipitation might also be associated with some indications of reducing the number of days with higher precipitation. The glaciers are melting more rapidly. Snowfall has decreased over a period of time. Flash floods are frequent now.
The Ladakh government has undertaken an onerous task of waste management, controlling carbon emissions, and maintaining the Himalayan ecosystem. The central government is also taking initiatives to make Ladakh a tourist destination, focusing on various aspects such as adventure, culture and responsible and sustainable tourism. Seven projects worth Rs 594 crores are sanctioned for J&K and Ladakh under Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD Schemes under the Ministry of Tourism. (Yojana, Sep 22). The central government launched the PRASAD scheme in 2014-2015 under the Ministry of Tourism. The term PRASAD stands for ‘Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual Augmentation Drive’.This initiative stresses developing and identifying pilgrimage sites across India to enrich religious tourism. Its goals are to combine pilgrimage destinations in a prioritised, planned and sustainable manner to make a complete religious tourism experience available to tourists. The growth of domestic tourism hugely depends on pilgrimage tourism.
Tourism should be sustainable and have minimal adverse effects on the local ecology. The main aim of promoting tourism in Ladakh is to generate employment opportunities for the locals and promote the culture and products. So the tourism industry must be promoted systemically with a focus on developing opportunities, ensuring connectivity, creating infrastructure, and promoting community-based growth. Both opportunities and challenges are plenty. Adventure and homestay tourism could unlock new areas and empower the local populace, especially women.
Ladakh, the land of elevated passes, is a beautiful landscape that can leave you with your jaws dropped. It is a place where the landscape changes dramatically. Seeing the mountains, snow, cold desert, alpine meadows, and lakes co-located is genuinely astonishing. Tourism in Ladakh is an absolute delight for nature lovers and adventurers. Decked with soaring mountains, Ladakh has the highest elevated motorable courses, such as Khardung La, Marsimik La, and Chang La, and alpine lakes like Pangong Tso and Tso Moriri.
Ladakh could be divided into three central regions: Leh, Nubra, and Zanskar, and each region have several beautiful places to see. It is one of the top trekking destinations in India, with extraordinary and unmatched treks like the famous Frozen River Trek/Chadar Trek. Ladakh also has prospects for sports like mountaineering, motor biking, mountain biking, river white water rafting, and other adventure sports.
Ancient Buddhist monasteries that are primarily huddled amidst mountains and are thousands of years old are adding to the pristine beauty of Ladakh. These monasteries are the Buddhist pilgrimage destinations in Ladakh and act as important cultural centres where major religious festivals are held periodically.
Though Ladakh has become a preferred place for tourists worldwide, it is also suffering from the adverse impact of tourism on its soil, consequential to excess garbage, wastage of water, noise, and air pollution. It is affecting the life of the local populace and dismantling the same habitat where these people resided for many years. Indeed, something seriously has to be done before it’s too late to repair the damage. There should be a balance between tourism’s economic, environmental, and socio-cultural consequences.
The World Tourism Organization (WTO) describes sustainable tourism as taking full responsibility for its present and future economic, social and environmental effects, taking care of the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and the local populace. The best practices which support Sustainable Tourism are Preservation, Public, Culture, and Commerce. According to WTO, sustainable tourism must have the following aspects:
* Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of the local populace, preserve their living cultural heritage and traditional values, and underwrite to intercultural sympathetic and broad-mindedness.
* Safeguard feasible, long-term economic operations, extending socio-economic aids to all sponsors that are impartially distributed, as well as permanent employment and income-generating prospects and social services to host communities and contribute to poverty alleviation programmes.
More specifically, the conditions that Sustainable Tourism must meet are:
* Contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and cultural diversity
* Contribute to the well-being of local communities and indigenous people
* Include an interpretation/learning experience
* Include responsible action on the part of tourists and tourism industries
* Be appropriate in scale
* Require the lowest possible consumption of non-renewable resources
* Respect physical and social carrying capacities
* Involve minimal repatriation of earned revenue.
Conclusion: Tourism consists of people travelling from their usual habitat to the place of interest for leisure, business or other purposes. This stay is generally not more than one year at a stretch. Tourism offers excellent opportunities for emerging economies and developing countries. It creates jobs, strengthens the local economy, contributes to local infrastructure development, can help to conserve the natural environment and cultural assets and traditions, and to reduce poverty and inequality.
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