FindArticles / News / Times of India, The / Jun 29, 2009

Scarred by dirt and decay [India]

by Sengupta, Nandita
Comments Lazy roads meander their way to one of India's most-famous hill stations. The roads are good, the frequent fencing painted, and every sharp turn marked by advice on safe driving. For any traveller escaping the baking plains, the vacation seems to start off just right. Barely an hour's drive from Dehradun, Mussoorie promises a cool time. Until you make it to the town. Choked with traffic, hotels squeezed into every nook and cranny, parking lots jammed, cars revving amid blaring horns and exhaust fumes can crowd out the fun. Last week, striking water department workers worsened matters and the town was thrown off gear, denied water supply. The mall, an only-pedestrian zone, already overcrowded, soon turned into a garbage heap and the stench of waste spread rapidly in the breeze. Yet, tourists make a beeline for the 182-year-old hill station. The decay is man-made, but around Mussoorie the hills are alive with crumbs of history and picture-perfect scenery. But one has to get past the town. Landour, Dhanaulti and innumerable spots may still be unaffected by Mussoorie's maddening crowds, but sites here too are threatened by the same apathy that ails the main town. The crowds are drawn, dreaming of a drive to Dhanaulti and the aroma of fresh bakes from the Clock Tower Cafe, Mussoorie's latest and only cafe with attitude. Landour's church and pizzas at Devdar Woods are old favourites. Nostalgia-soaked smell of cedar make for fine memory. But the tourist must ignore a lot of dirt and decay to enjoy all this. Spread over 64.3 sq km, the hill resort had a local population of 26,000 as per the 2001 census. That has now touched 40,000, say locals. Further, an influx of 1 million visitors every season with no expansion in infrastructure make matters difficult for both locals and tourists. The biggest evil is illegal construction. Mussoorie today is cramped with numerous shabby hotels for the single-night visitors and even small-time offices workshops. No-one bothers with municipal laws, says 65-year-old Mussoorie veteran, Vijaya Bhandari. Gone are the cobbled walkways and the freewheeling nature trails. Even the golf courses have fallen into disuse. Locals blame it all on official neglect. Instead of development in line with the heritage and natural splendour of the place, the state has metamorphosed Mussoorie into a cheap and blustering tourist stop. The mall is choc-a-bloc with shops selling everything under the sun, albeit a fair share of which is made in China.

Mussoorie's most famous tourist spot, the Kempty Falls is jokingly referred to as Empty Falls. The waterfall is a narrow version of its former spate, a ropeway carries tourists across it while three artificial pools at various levels offer boat-rides. Teashops and stalls line the entry to Kempty falls, and plastic and debris litter the place. The Savoy Hotel, once Mussoorie's pride seems an old shadow of its former self. In short, every heritage property has been knocked off Mussoorie's map, and garish new structures are coming up by the dozen, leading to the ruin of a once-glorious town. Residents are coming together to try and stem the damage. They want an immediate check on entry of vehicles into the city and a total stop on vehicles with hooters that blare. Pollution is growing, damaging the staggering array of greenery as well as the peace. Blinding noise is the other growing menace and air pollution is rapidly rising, admits a senior administrative officer. While the chairman of the Mussoorie municipal board stresses the need for taking adequate steps, not a single survey has been carried out on the town in terms of constructions or pollution or violations of regulations. no-one is sure how many hotels have mushroomed nor the extent of damage the town has suffered. No-one seems to know where to begin to arrest Mussoories downward spiral into ruin. (additional inputs by D S Kunwar in Nainital)

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Gangotri yatra remains suspended for third day More Uttarakhand News, about Uttarakahnd and more http://uttarakhandnews2k.blogspot.com/ Dehradun, Aug 23 (PTI) The yatra to Gangotri shrine remained suspended for the third consecutive day as the debris brought by landslides on the national highway was yet to be cleared, official sources said today.Rishikesh-Gangotri national highway has been struck by landslides following heavy rains at Sukhitop and Bhatwari.Efforts are on to clear the debris and reopen the road for traffic, they said.The highway had opened only last week after remaining closed for 12 days due to heavy landslides at Sainj area where a road stretch of 80 m was washed away.However, the yatra routes to Badrinath, Kedarnath and Yamunotri are open for pilgrims. Posted by Mahendra Mahara at 9:34 PM 0 comments

Residents irked at traffic jams: Residents of Almora are facing an acute problem with regards to the poor traffic management on the Mall Road. Things have come to a pass that the Mall Road which is the arterial road in the town is perpetually experiencing a traffic snarl. The people hold the poor implementation of traffic norms by the police responsible for the situation. They say that the police allows parking of vehicles in no-parking zones that constantly leads to the traffic snarls. The people have demanded a solution to the daily ordeal which they have to undergo.

Tourism has taken shape as the worlds largest industry growing rapidly in the last two decades. Today it has a share of 6 percent in world output and provides jobs to more than 100 million people around the globe. Since the end of the second world war, it has developed a solid gain in revenue and development potential and stands as a notable natural renewable resource industry. Tourism the travel based recreation provides an interesting alternative to people who lead a busy and routine life in their profession. They get a change in their normal and usual life. It is a normal desire for everybody to see new places and know about their life style. They wish to use their summer spells in the best possible manner. Tourism provides an opportunity to fulfill this instinct. This instinct gives a thrust to the tourism industry which has become the main source of income for several places not only in India, but abroad also. In India, we can take examples of places like Varanasi, Vaishno Devi, Agra, Haridwar, Mussoorie, Manali etc. in this regard. Besides there are many stations which are thronged by tourists. It is a pride to note that India has a considerable number of tourists spots. They have a craze to visit these stations to satisfy their quest for exploring the historical aspects of this country. In 1992-93, we earned good amounts from 1.82 million tourists. Tourism helps in filling up the gaps of budgets if any. Tourism generated inter-relationship, hospitality and employment, potentiality for people. Besides advantage, there are certain side effects on this account.

It is a normal habit with the backward or under developed nations to take every tourist as a rich person. The tourist are often accompanied by some sales agents, who in old terminology, can be called as THUGS. These guides or agents increase the prices in super effects. The tourist forms a very bad opinion about a place where he had been cheated so badly by the residents. We must remember that every tourist is an embassy or a representative of his country moving in our country. They are the best source of publicity attracting or repelling further tourists in our country. Thus, a bad experience for his deprives us from the visits of further tourist from the area. Spoiling the environment is a common outcome of rushed tourist visits. Himalaya mountains having places like Nanda Devi tract gives a sad look due to over crowd of the tourists. It is a fact that hiss people cannot provide very high level of amenities for tourism. The shortage occurs for electricity or water or disposal of fuse. These problems create further damages to local masses. They create particular disturbance to circle of wild life up keep and natural settings of wild life are also affected due to excess tourism. Monuments too have suffered from tourism. The Taj Mahal, the seventh wonder of the medieval world, has suffered lot of wear and tear from trampling feel of tourists. General instability of nation is causing damage to this industry, Kashmir is one of the examples Violence in Ayodhya, bomb blasts in Mumai, disturbance in Vadodara and Surat caused reduction of tourist visits to the area. Even on the whole India has to struggle hard to promote tourism. She must make use of this plan to earn more revenue. We have all the lush attraction to generate desires for a visit to this country by the tourist. A major contribution in this respect can be by offering the best hospitality and courtesy. They should attempt to win their love and praise. We must be prepared to share the burdern movement as host to tourist. As stated above, a tourists is the mouthpiece of a particular industry/country. The good image can induce them to talk good about us and bad behavior can make them spirit bad experiences and discourage tourism. We should keep it in mind that many of the Kashmir tourists have been diverted to Switzerland or any other hill stations. We have a very meagre share of 0.4 per cent in the world tourism and it must be increased. There is need to create awareness about tourism, the ignorance about a particular language and tradition does not mean that the person be cheated by the locals. On the other hand, people can cultivate permanent relationship by rendering honest help to the needy when they are trapped in such a situation. The soothing help can go a long way in developing good relations and bring expert contracts for our country.