Banjar residents for eco-tourism policy

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, September 2

Residents of Banjar falling under the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in Kullu district have urged the government to make a policy for the development of eco-tourism.

They are worried because unplanned tourism is flourishing in the area and it will pose a serious threat to the ecology.

They said, “Many outsiders are doing tourism business in Banjar. They are raising big structures of concrete and cement, harming the aesthetic value of villages.”

They said there should be a policy to preserve the aesthetic value of the villages. There is need to provide forest rights to locals to flourish eco-tourism.

Residents of Sharchi, Shili, Tung, Mashyar, Suchain and Raila panchayats huddled with office-bearers of local NGO Sahara and Himalayan Niti Abhiyan to chalk out a strategy to ensure the sustainable tourism development plan for Banjar.

Daulat Bharti, a resident, said, “The unplanned tourism is flourishing in Banjar, which needs to be curbed. There is need create livelihood opportunities for the locals. Businessmen are constructing big concrete structures, which will be an eyesore for the villages.”