The challenge for tourist destinations, among other things, chiefly was how to combine nature conservation, increased footfall in tourism and incomes. There was no dearth in the wider unanimous view that tourism and environment were intricately related and if it is said that clean environment was the biggest resource of tourism, it would not be any exaggeration. Having said so, management of solid waste not only affected the particular tourist destination but posed a big problem to the sustainability of environment, the overuse and degradation of environment being rather taken lightly by the concerned bureaucratic administrative and managerial system in Jammu and Kashmir. Incompatible infrastructure , lack of innovative and promptly taken decisions, absence of co-operation between different concerned organisations and departments and the like, are antidotes to the synergy between sustainable tourism and nature conservation.
In Jammu and Kashmir, chiefly Tourism and Housing and Urban Development departments had to shoulder a lot of responsibility in respect of the subject matter but less said about their actual contribution, the better it was. Besides, Tourist Development Authorities created for the specific purpose, perhaps, do not feel conscious about their part of expected enormous contribution towards promoting of tourism and taking care of ancillary issues. In fact, successive State Governments kept redefining their leading role in totality in creating the requisite infrastructure for all pronged convenience of the incoming tourists in Jammu and Kashmir with vast and wide scope of promotion of tourism. These include as to how the generated solid waste as a consequence of the tourist turnover was professionally arranged to be managed to create high natural values, cleanliness and attractiveness thus virtually an incentive to more tourist inflow.
On perusal and assessment of the prevailing situation, however, we cannot help butdrawing a note of far from satisfactory position. It is the cardinal principle that the capacity and the ability of a tourist destination depended upon its carrying capacity, resilience of the environment and socio cultural activities. Environment of a particular destination could be endangered if the system had no scientific disposal of the generated solid waste. That the above mentioned departments could not come up to the levels of the expectations, besides becoming focus of severe criticism from the general public has invited the displeasure of the State High Court as well. The court has not taken lightly the absence of the state-of- the art solid waste treatment plants, at least for major tourist destinations. The Prime Minister otherwise, laying emphasis on cleanliness drive as an accepted routine encompassed cleanliness in every aspect, including those of the most important places in the country which were tourist destinations, extends as a corollary towards scientific management and disposal of solid waste.
Take the case of famous and most frequently visited tourist destinations in Jammu region, like Patnitop, it still has no such arrangement of proper management of solid waste despite attempts having been made several years back in this regard. Just by providing a few dust bins , the job was not even half done as the question loomed large about the lack of the requisite infrastructure towards its scientific disposal, hence transferring the waste material from one spot to the other did not resolve the matter. About Bhadarwah tourist destination, as also of Kishtwar, and all other promising destinations, the story is the same that of indifference, absence of taking keen interest and taking decisions fast. It is just exercise in futility to prepare plans and projects with very promising prospective results but the same getting held up at different points of authority and finally getting consumed by the red-tape.
While the issue for serious consideration is as to how not only the number of tourists increased but how new destinations were made and presented in such a fashion to bring them under the tourism map. The development of such places was on a consistent and unending sustained manner but at the same time, what was done simultaneously to keep the environment of the destinations prim, clean and attractive was very important. The leverages as at present may provide some little cushion to us accommodating our inaction and indifferent approach but the biggest question is how long and what about the future. Let the concerned authorities not only talk but walk the talk as well.
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