Rafting curbs to cost us Rs 50-70 crore: Organizers

DEHRADUN: A day after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) came down heavily on rafting camps in Rishikesh ordering that their licences should not be renewed, confusion and panic reigned among the camp operators in the area, from Rishikesh to Shivpuri, regarded as the rafting zone of Uttarakhand. The panic was more so because the process of renewal of licences for the rafting season - which starts from September and goes on till June is due to start soon. "This is a big blow for us.During peak season, we get around 35,000-40,000 tourists every week, especially during weekends, from neighbouring places like Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. If licences are not renewed, it would mean a loss of around Rs 50 to 70 crore for all of us," said Kiran Bhatt, president of the Indian Association of Rafting Outfitters (IARO).
Claiming that camps were essential for their business, Bhatt alleged that without camps, "rafting will not hold much attraction". "Most of the tourists who come for rafting like to stay in beach camps so that they can also indulge in a number of assorted activities like trekking, jungle safari, kayaking, hill climbing, rappelling, bungee-jumping and paragliding. The order will impact the livelihoods of so many people who are associated with these camps."

Representatives of tourism bodies and officials also alleged that the NGT order would mean a great loss for the state's tourism.

"Any sort of ban would mean a negative impact on tourism. Beach camp stakeholders should have been instead asked to strictly adhere to the guidelines to ensure environment conservation," said R C Bhardwaj, head of the adventure tourism wing of the state tourism department.



Maharaj S Wahi, former member of Uttarakhand Tourism Board and former president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators, said "the NGT order seemed extreme but the onus was on beach camp operators to not harm the environment."

"Any adventure tourism activity such as rafting and beach camping cannot survive if it harms the environment. Beach camp operators can learn a lesson from other countries where operators go to great lengths to take good care of their natural resources so that they can continue to earn and run their operations without harming the environment."

Times View

The National Green Tribunal order shutting rafting camps along the Shivpuri-Rishikesh stretch of he Ganga seems a case of hrowing out the baby with the bath water. The price of the exported laxity of the environment ministry and Uttarakhand government should not be borne by local residents who lose livelihoods, and nature and adventure enthusiasts who will be denied a getaway in the Himalayan foothills. Economic and effective on-site measures to reat and dispose of waste water and garbage like grease raps, mechanical filtration, organic decomposition of sewage and removal of plastics can vastly improve the effluent lowing into the river. Such solutions can be relatively easy o implement and monitor.