Ladakh, situated in the northernmost area of the western Indian Himalaya, between the Karakoram Range in the north and the greater Himalaya in the south consists of two districts, Leh and Kargil. It is the newest Union territory, created on October 31, 2019, after being separated from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir following the repeal of Article 370 on August 05, 2019. The area is characterized by harsh terrain, limited resources, low accessibility, and extreme climatic conditions, which in turn provide distinctive cultural and spiritual diversity that serves as a unique selling proposition (USP) for the tourism industry.

In 1974, Ladakh was officially opened to tourism, with 527 visitors. Since then, the number of tourists has steadily increased. From around 20,000 tourists in 2001 to 2,79,000 in 2019, the total number of visitors has increased dramatically. The increasing trend of tourists has no doubt improved the economy, but on the other hand, it has adversely affected the environment of Ladakh and increased the burden on its natural resources.

This exponential increase in tourist population is putting high pressure on the water sources of Ladakh. Over the years, water demand has increased dramatically, so much that the hotels and guesthouses in Leh dug private borewells to withdraw groundwater consequently water table is also getting depleted. Many of the springs have been dried up1. It is pertinent to mention here that Ladakh is a rain deficit region and is fully dependent on its receding glaciers to meet its increasing water demand.

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The manifestation of profound anthropogenic pressure has slowly begun, in the form of glacial recession, scarcity of water resources, water pollution, and cloud bursts2. The most dangerous and disabling pollution in the region, however, is caused by inappropriate solid waste disposal3. A study by a group of scholars revealed that the tourist accommodation sector in Leh and Kargil generates about 1093.69 metric tonnes per annum and 60.73 metric tonnes per annum respectively4. Because of the high volume of visitors throughout the summer, solid waste management becomes quite difficult largely due to poor infrastructure, inadequate manpower, and absence of landfill and sewerage treatment system5, thus, solid waste of both municipal and biomedical origin is disposed of in the common dumpsite without treatment6, however, 60% of solid waste can be diverted for composting and 30% for recycling4 which can be used as a low-cost raw material in small industrial units such as tile manufacturing, paper, and cardboard manufacturing, and so on thus, relieving the burden on the destination⁷.

The menace of tourism is hovering over yet another second largest town in Ladakh. Unlike Leh, Kargil is less affected by tourism, largely due to the low tourist population but it is increasing year by year. Until 2004, the number of visitors to Kargil increased at a very slow pace but it witnessed a huge surge thereafter8. In the year 2018-19, the number reached 1095589. If these increasing trends of visitors in both the towns go unchecked, Ladakh would soon lose its twin towns to bad tourism. The administration has had enough experience of the repercussions of overtourism, thus it’s high time that the government should realise it and build a strong infrastructure, and frame more eco-friendly policies to keep the ill effects of tourism at bay. It is unwise to invest more on the advertisement when we are already facing a huge population of tourists which is almost double of the native population.

In Ladakh, tourism is the most advertised, yet the least thought out topic among all the stockholders. So let the discussion start here, is tourism good for fragile Ladakh? And How long will it sustain in Ladakh?

Had, tourism, climate change, and the environment been a frequent subject of discussion, many of the sustainable ways would have been in place. Tourism is being seen as a masiha of all economic problems without considering its consequences and sustainability. Earlier Ladakh was predominantly an agricultural society10 and was self-sufficient in terms of food production but now Ladakh has a food-grain import dependency ratio of more than 50 %, largely due to the occupational transition from agriculture to tourism11. Economic development from tourism comes at a cost but agriculture, horticulture, agroforestry and pisciculture comes with some extra bonus. Therefore, the government should focus more on harnessing these auspicious nature-based economic resources.

Moreover, there is an urgent need of awareness about the ramifications of bad tourism. Some of the more vulnerable and eco-sensitive zones such as Puga and Sokhar valley should become the protected areas. Following the principles of sustainability, more areas need to be developed to attenuate the pressure of concentrated tourists in one place. Studies need to be done on the nature of tourist behavior that may help in framing more sustainable ecofriendly policies. Tourism can’t be stopped but can be directed to more sustainable ways, thus ecotourism and geo-tourism should be encouraged.

References:

1. Archana Singh, “Tourists’ toxic love for Ladakh is polluting its pristine environment”, Mongabay.
2. Deen, M. (2009). “Role of LEHO in managing water resources of Leh”.
3. Alexander, A. (2005). “Leh old town, Ladakh: A participatory approach to urban conservation, community-based upgrading and capacity-building”.
4. Muzaffar A.,  Shamim A., Zubair A. (2018). “Sustainable Integrated Solid Waste Management in the TransHimalayan Accommodation Sector” African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure.
5. Gondhalekara, D., Nussbaumb, S., Akhtara, A., Kebschullb, J., Keilmannc, P., Dawad, S., et al. (2013). “Water-related health risks in rapidly developing towns: The potential of integrated GIS-based urban planning”. Water International.
6. LEDe Group. (2008). http://www.ladakh ecologicaldevelopmentgroup.co.in.
7. Muzaffar A.,  Shamim A., M Kamraju, M Akhtar. Sajad N. Dar. (2020), “Hospitality Industry in Ladakh: Assessing the Volume of Solid Waste Generation of Operation Restaurants of Leh Town through Spatiotemporal Method” International Journal of All Research Education and Scientific Methods (IJARESM).
8. Ajay Sura (2019), “In 20 years, Kargil goes from battle zone to tourism hub” Times of India.
9. Statistical Handbook of Kargil, District Statistics & Evaluation Office, Kargil
10. Norberg-Hodge H (1991) “Ancient futures: learning from Ladakh”. Oxford University Press, New Delhi
11. Gondhalekar and Kebschull (2015) “Planning Under Uncertainty: Climate Change, Water Scarcity and Health Issues in Leh Town, Ladakh, India” Researchgate.