Environmentalists are demanding greater environmental management of religious tourism.
The death of 98 pilgrims in the Amarnath Yatra has highlighted the need to ensure better man-management in these ecologically-fragile regions. Already, three lakh pilgrims have visited the Amarnath shrine while the number in 2011 was around 7.5 lakhs.
Environmentalist Prof. Vikram Soni of the Jamia Milia University points out that such large numbers of yatris are unsustainable given the high altitude and the danger of landslides hitting this area which could result in heavy loss of life.
Scientists working in the Valley have repeatedly warned on the need to curtail the number of yatris as also to prohibit the use of polythene in and around Pahalgam.
A local scientist with the Kashmir University said, “Pilgrimage tourism should not be at the cost of the local environment.”
Glacial melting has adversely impacted a large number of Himalayan glaciers. It is because of this that the former BJP government in Uttarakhand has restrained the number of pilgrims visiting Gangotri and Gaumukh to 150 persons a day.
Sunita Narain, director of the Centre of Science and Environment and also a member of the Amarnath Shrine Board admitted, “The carrying capacity of a religious shrine must be kept in mind when permission is granted to pilgrims.”
This demand has gained significance because a stampede sparked by a night-time road accident in a dense forest killed more than 100 pilgrims at the Sabrimala temple in the Idukki district in Kerala in 2011.
The Amarnath Yatra remains ridden with controversies because while local Kashmiris believe that Pahalgam, Sonamarg, and Baltal are under ecological risk, VHP leaders want the period of the Amarnath yatra to be extended to three months.