Climate Change Is The Real Threat To Tourism

Tourism destinations around India, from Manali to Munnar, are sinking under the weight of tourists their garbage, their buses, cars, their steel and glass hotels and the dust and debris of under-construction roads, highways, railways, waterways, ropeways and airports, that will bring in more tourists in the near future.

- Shailendra Yashwant

The subsidence or sinking of Joshimath, the gateway to Badrinath, Hemkund Sahib and the Valley of Flowers, is a perfect example of how the massive increase in tourism and the unplanned infrastructure to support its growth is the final straw for a destination that is already vulnerable due to its location, its unique geography and geology, and the effects of ill-advised infrastructure development projects like hydropower dams and the catastrophic Chardham highway project.

Those who have visited a hill station in India, anywhere in India, in the Himalayas and the Western Ghats, will tell you stories about how there are hundreds of Joshimaths waiting to happen, from Kalimpong to Kodaikanal, from Mcleodganj to Mahabaleshwar However, there is a bigger threat than burgeoning tourism that looms over these iconic, cultural, historical and natural heritage locations. Tourism destinations are also sinking under the steady onslaught of climate change-induced extreme weather events heavy rains, floods, forest fires, storms, heat waves and water scarcity threatening their very existence.