HIMALAYAN TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENT

CAPTAIN M. S. KOHLI, IN (Retd.), AVSM, F.R.G.S.

ENVIRONMENT PLANNING and ecology have assumed great importance in several countries. Although rather late in the day, the importance of conserving the ecology of tourist-infested areas including the Himalaya is realized. A decade ago, there were no more than a score of mountaineering expeditions and less than a hundred trekkers visiting the Himalaya every year. Today, the annual number of expeditions has grown to over 200, and of trekkers to over 50,000. And this is apart from many more who flock to scores of hill stations which nestle all along in the Himalayan belt. Kashmir valley alone gets about 6,00,000 visitors every year.

In June, 1975 I was on a trek to Everest in order to meet some old Sherpa friends who were with me during the three Indian attempts on Everest in I960, 1962 and 1965. The Everest trail, once so clear and unpolluted had now turned into a 'garbage trail', full of food and juice tins, beer bottles, chocolate papers and garbage. It was a very unpleasant experience. The 'Shangrila Land' was no more like the one I had seen on my earlier trips. The 13,000 ft high Thyangboche Monastery in the shadow of Everest, known to be the most beautiful place on the earth, was full of garbage too. During my last trip in 1965 although the Everest trail was quite clean, we had noticed pollution high up on the mountain. To my utter surprise we found the South Col in a shocking state. 'The highest junkyard in the world', with hundreds of empty oxygen bottles, food tins, tent poles and butane gas cylinders, was full of garbage too. Who could believe pollution at 26,200 ft on Everest? But there it was.

Two miles away was the new Japanese Hotel where rich tourists arrived by chartered flights, and returned the next day after a quick look on Everest and Ama Dablam. And, of course, those who did not acclimatize — and this was not unfrequent — were put on oxygen, which was made available in each room, and were evacuated by the first available flight. The once uninterrupted sound of prayers, which go on endlessly in the Thyangboche Monastery, was now intercepted by occasional sound of Stol planes and helicopters which landed in a nearby air-strip.

In 1975, compared to Nepal the impact of tourism in the Indian Himalaya was much less as the majority of expeditions and trekkers went to Nepal. Pakistan and Afghanistan had even a lesser number to reckon with. However, the situation has been gradually changing. Last year there were more expeditions in the Indian Himalaya than Nepal, numbering nearly 120 including 40 foreign teams. As regards trekkers, however, out of an estimated 50,000 nearly 2/3rd went to Nepal. One major reason for the recent influx of expeditions to the Indian Himalaya has been the removal of restrictions on the entry oI foreigners to some of the frontier areas.

Amongst the newly opened peaks, the biggest draw was the peak of Nanda Devi. As a result of this influx, bushes in the Sanctuarv were indiscriminately cut and suddenly the situation become very alarming. Most common bushes above 10,000 ft are of juniper which are evergreen, brown or bluish, belonging to the Cypress family. As a fuel these shrubs burn fast and thus provide a lot of temptation to mountaineers and trekkers. This is one of the issues of serious concern. It is well-known that once the vegetation is destroyed above 10,000 ft the regeneration is a long and slow process. It was decided to set up a special Sub-Committee on Ecology which included A. D Moddie, Murad Fyzee and Brigadier Gyan Singh. This was followed by another meeting on February 1977. One of the conclusions drawn in this meeting was that the increasing number of tourists need not necessarily spoil the ecology of the Himalayan areas, only if the flow of trekkers and mountaineers and the infra-structural facilities can be controlled properly. Tourism to the hill areas is very important for the economic prosperity of the local people which in turn could enable them to conserve and preserve the rich wealth of flora and fauna with which nature has endowed them.

Considering the vast size of the Himalaya, the number of trekkers and mountaineers visiting it is not really that large as to pose any serious threat to its ecology. The corrective measures already taken and the concern that has been already aroused should make us vigilant for the future. The Himalayan mountaineers need to emulate the example of Japan where ecology is foremost in the minds of the Japanese climbers and trekkers. In 1975 I climbed peak 'Tateyama' in the northern Japanese Alps. It was a Sunday and there were some 7,500 people climbing the peak that day. I was told the number on the previous day had exceeded even 10,000. And surprisingly, with over 17,000 people on a small peak just over a week-end, not a single item of litter was seen anywhere on the mountain. There were warnings displayed though all over the mountain announcing a fine of 100,000 yens for any offender.

In the Indian Himalaya we have to be particularly careful about popular trails as it is in these areas that we need to take some urgent action. An old proposal to set up a chain of mountain huts on popular trails, supported both by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation and the Himalayan Club but not yet implemented, deserves urgent action. It should help in minimizing the degradation of these trails. Use of wood for cooking and heating would be much less in a mountain hut as compared to open-air camps. These huts should also have attached toilets. Besides serving the cause of ecology it would enable more people to use these trails without having to carry tents which are quite expensive and beyond the reach of many.

Another sad fact that has recently come to light by some climbing groups in the Har-ki-doon area is that almost all the flowers in this area have suddenly disappeared. The damage has been caused by sheep who gathered seeds of Bockleaf in their wool from lower down ridges and deposited them higher up in the base camp area. It is known that when these Dockleaf plants grow no flower or any other plants survive. We have to be careful in the use of sheep on the mountains, particularly in the case of Nanda Devi which is perhaps one of the few Himalayan areas where there is no habitation on the approach route with the result that porters need to carry their own rations for their entire stay on the mountain, and thus many expeditions resort to use of sheep for carrying loads to base camp.1

The time has also come when we must encourage small Alpine-style expeditions where the dependence on local porters and high altitude Sherpas is much less. In certain major expeditions although the number of climbers may be only about a dozen, the number of porters accompanying the expedition comes to several hundreds. You can imagine the amount of wood that would be used by such a large party. On Everest expedition we had about one thousand porters of which 25 were retained for two months at base camp just for daily wood collection!

The major damage to the Himalayan ecology is not from mountaineers and trekkers, but from others. It is necessary to identify these sources. The foremost is the influx of local population and their indiscreet cutting of wood both for fuel as well as for commercial purposes. Once a beautiful forested region, Kinnaur now looks a bare and ugly landscape. There are as many as 2,500 saw mills in that district alone, and apparently all approved by the State Government. And this is true not only for Kinnaur but other Himalayan areas too. Population in the hill regions upto 10,000 ft above sea-level has multiplied as fast as in the Gangetic plains. According to the census of 1921 and 1971 the population in the hill areas has gone up by nearly 127 per cent in 50 years. The growth rate has been even more during the past 10 years. Coupled with this influx the Himalayan region also assumed a great political and strategic importance after the 1962 border conflict with China. The para-military forces and the Army had gone into these areas in large numbers. An extensive network of roads has come up all over the Himalaya. These roads have accelerated the influx of plainsmen into the Himalayan areas which in turn has brought a large scale degradation in the region. Having been a part of the para-military set-up for almost seven years I can say that although coal and kerosene are supplied as part of the ration to the men of these organizations they too have not been free from the temptation of cutting trees for their daily needs.

In Sikkim, a village Karponam, some 10 miles up the track from Gangtok to Nathu La, was full of Rhododendrons in 1947. Ten years later not, a tree stood there. The Singalila ridge dividing Darjeeling district and Sikkim from Nepal has already been laid bare of its forest. In Kulu the tree-line has been receding from the valley floor in the last three decades and is now near the ridges. In Gangotri the tree-line has receded by 8 km during the past 15 years.

According to experts, 60 per cent of the hill region should be under forest for ecological stability. Indiscreet cutting of trees and turning these forests into brown deserts have led to disastrous consequence in the shape of hill erosion, siltation of dams and floods. A recent World Bank study has revealed that if the present trend is not reversed there will be no forests left in 60 years. Nepal has lost 50 per cent of its forest just in one decade.

The time has come when we should pause and realize that this great range of magnificent mountains must not be destroyed. The Himalayan range is of vital importance to the lives of the people in the sub-continent. Himalaya is the weather maker of Asia. The interaction of the annual monsoon and the Himalaya affects the continental climate of the whole of Central Asia. Himalaya is also the source of great rivers and hydro-electric power for the Indian subcontinent, watering Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. The hydro-electric potential in the 55-mile Brahmaputra bend alone, in which its waters come crashing down 10,000 ft in such a short distance, is around 25 per cent of the entire hydro-electric power of the world. Somebody has well said, 'the earth has a cancer and the cancer is man'. Man's onslaught has rendered the Himalaya today the most fragile ecosystem of the earth. The beautiful Dal Lake, which in 1907 was 10.5 square miles, has now been reduced to less than half of its size by human encroachment and weeds.

The time has come when we can no longer afford to be silent spectators to the growing pollution and threat to ecology in our Himalaya. It is high time that we should make all concerned aware of the problems of ecology and environment. We should learn a lesson from certain advanced mountain countries and adopt useful examples to save the Himalaya from any further degradation. We need to examine new sources of energy for the mountain people, such as hydro power, latest fuel-forestry and solar energy to avoid the threat to our forests.

Although the influx of millions of plainsmen, coupled with the growth of population in the hills, is inevitable, we can avoid the adverse impact by proper environmental control and planning. The Government should draw proper master plans in respect of each hill station and hill resort. Perhaps these plans already exist. But is the implementation taking place ? Probably not.

Mountaineers and trekkers who love the mountains should take the lead in educating the local population as and when they pass through these areas. While passing through many mountain villages, particularly on the pilgrimage route, I have noticed that the slopes on either side of the road, especially behind the shops and houses, are full of garbage. It is a shocking sight, worse than even slums. Mountaineers and trekkers passing through these villages could help educating the local shop-keepers and villagers and make them conscious of this serious pollution threat. Perhaps a police action may be more effective.

A special attention needs to be given to Ladakh which has recently been opened to tourists. The damage caused to the ecosystem there is of great concern and soon under the stress of accelerated tourism the environment is bound to be adversely affected. This is perhaps one of the areas where the influx of tourism has overtaken the development. Besides the ecological pollution of the Himalaya I would like to draw attention to an equally or perhaps even more serious threat to our Himalayan region, and this is about the cultural pollution. When I first visited Ladakh, on an expedition to Saser Kangri in 1956, not many from outside world had visited this area, The local habits and customs of the Ladakhis were intact and this in itself was a rewarding experience. At each village we were invited by the locals to their houses where they offered to us eggs and buttermilk with folded hands and expected no cash in return. Local women, scantily dressed without tops, worked in fields undisturbed by the gaze of people from the urban society. That Ladakh of 1956 is no more there. The old culture and hospitality has vanished.

This is true for other Himalayan areas too. It is a pity that thes& once sheltered and quiet areas have been swamped by large numbers from outside, who have converted the locals to western ways without taking into consideration the damage that this might do even if it provides some temporary benefit. Can we overlook this serious cultural threat? A lot of damage has already taken place. We must prevent any further damage as far as possible.

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