Lahaul-Spiti to restrict tourist flow

Pratibha Chauhan

TribuneNews Service

Shimla, August 7

Himachal will adopt Bhutan model of tourism for its pristine Lahaul-Spiti Valley by restricting tourist inflow once the ecologically fragile area becomes accessible throughout the year on the opening of the Rohtang tunnel.

The state government is gearing up to handle the tourist rush after the completion of the Rohtang Tunnel, hopefully by next year. The Urban Development Department is preparing a Master Plan for ensuring regulated development of the area which could witness sudden tourism boom following the completion of the Rohtang tunnel.

The total bed capacity in hotels, guest houses, home stay and tented accommodation at the major tourist attractions like Udaipur, Kaza, Keylong and Tabo has been assessed at 1,882. “We have to tread very cautiously by restricting the number of tourist arrivals into Lahaul Spiti on completion of the Rohtang tunnel as it is an ecologically fragile area,” remarked Ram Lal Markanday, Agriculture Minister, who happens to be Lahaul Spiti MLA. He said the arrivals cannot exceed carrying capacity of the area. He said the Urban Development Department is preparing the Master Plan to ensure that there is no spurt in unregulated construction activity in view of tourism potential the area has. It has already been decided that no high rise structures will be allowed to come along the valley side to ensure that the view is not obstructed. Moreover, no high rise building will be allowed and the ones which will be allowed will be in the hill architecture. Plans are afoot to develop new destinations within the district like Tinan Valley, Tod, Myar and Trilokinath. “In view of the expansive ski slopes available here, I have personally met Union Minister for Sports Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to urge him to provide funds for winter sports promotion in Lahaul Spiti,” said Markanday.

Officials of the Tourism Department also strongly advocated enforcing restricted flow of tourist which would ensure high value and low volume. They contended that though Himachal had 1.96 crore tourist arrivals in 2017 but majority are the ones on shoe string budget so there was need to focus on high end tourists.

Following the completion of the Master Plan, tourism infrastructure like adequate parking facility, way side amenities, public toilets and other such facilities will be created for the benefit of tourists. With the area remaining inaccessible due to snow cover for more than six months, the opening up of the Rohtang tunnel will provide round the year connectivity.

The tourist arrivals to Himachal have registered a consistent increase over the last few years with the number touching an all-time high of 1.96 crore in 2017, which includes 4.70 lakh foreigners. The culturally rich tribal areas of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti remain high on the priority of foreign tourists, who evince keen interest in the centuries old Buddhist monasteries and relics located here.