The increasing accumulation of solid waste due to the sudden influx of tourists could lead to Bhaderwah’s undoing, fear environmentalists.
With imposing mountains, lush meadows and an abundance ofgreenery and free flowing fresh water bodies, Bhaderwah Valley of Jammu regionremains unparalleled in terms of natural beauty and off-late has etched onevery tourist’s wishlist.
High tourist influx since the past couple of weeks hasaltered Bhaderwah Valley’s cleanliness scenario and the lacklustre performanceof different government agencies, especially of Bhaderwah Development Authority(BDA), hasn’t helped.
Pleasant weather, better security and improvedinfrastructure have resulted in a tourism bonanza for the valley. It isestimated that more than 2.5 lakh tourists—mostly people from other parts ofthe country—visited high altitude meadows of Bhaderwah valley during the last 4weeks.
As per official figures of BDA, with 25 thousand peopledirectly or indirectly involved in the Bhaderwah valley’s tourism industry, itis now easily the biggest contributor to the local economy. The boom in touristnumbers is cause for joy, and has also led to a boom in the business of smalltime vendors, especially in the famed high altitude meadows of Padri, Jaie andGuldanda.
Although increased footfall of tourists has brought with ita much-needed economic boost, however, as with most good things, there are someserious side-effects. Visitors exit the area leaving litter strewn all over theplace. Such carelessness taints the same beauty thousands flock to the regionto witness. Nature lovers in the region are incensed by the attitude of BDA.
Waste generation in high altitude meadows of the otherwisepristine valley, especially Jaie, Padri, Khanni Top, Baggan and Guldanda,reached alarming proportions and has become a cause of concern forenvironmentalists and nature lovers as these meadows are rapidly being filledby the garbage, especially non-biodegradable wrappers and plastic bottles.
“Authorities, especially the BDA, must realise they have toproperly dispose waste to protect nature.” said Rajni Devi, a tourist and anature lover from Samba.
“If this rate of pollution continues, it is quite likelythese meadows will lose its natural beauty in a couple of years,” she added.
With tourists from all over India and the world moving intoBhaderwah Valley in droves, solid waste now threatens not just the ecology, butthe tourism industry itself. Environmentalists are already expressing theirconcerns about the policy paralysis.
“Visitors cannot be solely blamed for the mess as there arevery few waste bins in the meadows visited by hundreds of tourists every day.The absence of the management waste bins is an indicator of the BDA’s lack ofresolve to develop proper infrastructure and save environment in the region,”said Dharam Kant Dogra, a renowned environmentalist.
On being contacted,CEO BDA, Dr Rajinder Khajuria, said, “This is a very serious issue and a matterof concern as my staff keeps me updated on a daily basis about the cleanliness,but the pictures and videos of Padri meadow on interstate Bhaderwah-Chamba roadtell a different story. This callous attitude of the staff will not betolerated and stern action will be initiated against them for dereliction ofduties and providing wrong information.”
“High altitude meadows and water bodies are the mainattraction for the tourists and these are the only things if kept in itsoriginal form can further boost the prospects of tourism here. To save thenatural paradise, we will form a task force to implement polythene anddisposables ban in letter and spirit,” the CEO added.