Hindustan Times: New Delhi: Sunday, June 23, 2013.
Uttarakhand’s
two shrines where most pilgrims are stranded Badrinath and Kedarnath have
witnessed almost a four-fold increase in visitors in a decade, a Right To
Information (RTI) reply showed, hinting at the ecologically unsustainable
growth there. Figures provided by temple trusts showed a huge influx of
pilgrims on visits to Kedarnath and Badrinath between 2003 and 2012.
In Kedarnath,
the number grew from 1,69,217 tourists to 5,75,040 and in Badrinath it went up
from 1,34,010 to 5,95,020. Interestingly, during the same period, the influx of
foreign tourists to these shrines witnessed a 10-fold fall.
Uttarakhand
government officials said the leap in religious tourism in recent years could
be attributed to several companies, which offer affordable packages to visit
four dhams.
One can visit
Kedarnath and Badrinath with boarding and lodging for anything between Rs.
10,000 to Rs. 15,000 and all four for less than Rs. 20,000.
This has
obvious implications. The Uttarakhand government’s own data shows a five-time
increase in vehicle registration in the state with 70% of them devoted to
passenger ferrying services even though the condition of last mile connectivity
roads remains in tatters.
The central
government was not oblivious to the impending danger either. A Planning
Commission report on tourism for the 12th five year plan had a section on
religious tourism, which addressed many
of these issues.
It said that
the “challenges which need to be addressed” included better last mile
connectivity, proper hotels and solid waste management at religious sites, most
of which are close to water bodies.
MS Reddy,
vice-chairman of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said religious
tourism in Uttarakhand needs to be regulated the way Amarnath Yatra in Jammu
and Kashmir is done with a cohesive disaster mitigation plan.
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