Let's have responsible tourism
Where there are tourists; there is trash! Yes, this is the unfortunate one-liner truth of any holiday locations in India. Sadly, the maximum irresponsibility is that of a tourist.
Recently, on a visit to Khajjiar (known as the Mini Switzerland) located near Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh, we saw litter here and there. It was also accumulated under a picturesque tree. We saw some government officers, and presuming they were from the forest department, my friend and I decided to confront them on this ugly side of this paradise on Earth. They turned out to be teachers (one of them a Principal) from the local school and provided a dismal picture of the reason why garbage is strewn around, the quantity, accentuating during the peak season.
The Principal rued that they teach students from Primary School onward, the importance of keeping Khajjiar spick and span. To achieve this, they bring students from various classes, batch by batch, to undertake cleanliness drives, by picking up litter. However, he stated distressingly, "The tourists are so insensitive that even while our students are picking up litter, they will throw more, right in front of them. This lack of civic and social sense is a serious issue as 45-50% tourists indulge in carelessly throwing garbage in this majestic surrounding. They sneer at you, if you try to explain’’. Indeed, it is disgusting as even the one natural pond which has beautiful fishes in it, is filled with plastic bottles and wrappers, and has to be cleansed regularly by the local authorities.
The litter menace is predominant in various other tourist towns like Shimla, Manali, Dharamshala, Dalhousie, Kasauli, Spiti and so on. The same story is evident in hill stations across all the States of India including the panoramic Munnar in Kerala and Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra.
Recently, the High Court of Himachal Pradesh has slammed the behaviour of tourists who litter in public spaces and has ordered that the authorities should take a clue from the Sikkim government which has made it mandatory for every tourist to carry a large bag to throw in the litter, created by him or her.
An excerpt of the High Court order reads: "In order to promote sustainability in all the tourist destinations and to ensure community participation towards achieving this goal, the State should take a cue from the Government of Sikkim, in which it has been made mandatory for all tourist vehicles entering the State to carry a large garbage bag in their respective vehicles and the responsibility has been fastened upon the concerned tour operators, travel agencies and vehicle drivers to disseminate the information about the use of garbage bag for waste collection and disposal.’’
Interestingly, a community of "Waste Warriors", from Dharamshala, is fighting earnestly for responsible tourism in the Indian Himalayan region. They have recommended that tourist should carry a reusable steel or glass water bottle to avoid buying single use plastic water bottles; make sure one always finds the closest dustbin to dispose their waste; if one can't find a dustbin around then store the waste until one finds a dustbin to dispose of the waste; carry reusable bags when out and about so that one doesn't have to use single use plastic bags; carry metal straws and avoid using single use straws, and support local restaurant and cafes that use alternatives to single use plastic such as reusable cutlery and have dustbins installed. Makes sense, doesn’t it? And, so easy to do!
Enjoy your holiday, but not at the expense of harming and humiliating Mother Nature.