State’s environmental dilemma: Tourism village plans amidst ecological concerns

Despite mounting environmental challenges — with eco-fragile mountains sinking under the burden of over-tourism and over 200 lives lost to flash floods and landslides in the past month — the Himachal Pradesh government has decided to proceed with plans for a large-scale tourism village at Palampur.

The state has already acquired 112 hectares of land from Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University for the project, which is envisioned as one of the biggest tourism developments in the state, modelled on Malaysia’s Genting Highlands. As Kangra has been declared the “tourism capital” of the state, the land will be handed over to private players for the creation of an international-standard tourism village.

However, the project is mired in legal hurdles. The Himachal Pradesh High Court has stayed the transfer of land to the tourism department, but the state has petitioned the Supreme Court to vacate the stay. Local residents, environmental groups, scientists and university staff have strongly opposed the plan, citing risks to the already stressed ecosystem.

Over-tourism is already a pressing concern in destinations like Manali, Shimla, Dharamsala, Palampur and Dalhousie, as well as in the tribal regions of Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Chamba. Problems such as garbage mismanagement, traffic congestion, water scarcity and noise pollution have forced many locals to move away.

The Supreme Court has expressed alarm at the unregulated growth of tourism in the state, warning that “if things proceed the way they are, the day is not far when the entire State of Himachal Pradesh may vanish from the map of the country.” The Bench emphasised that human actions — not nature — are driving continuous landslides, road subsidence and building collapses in the fragile mountain terrain.

In 2024 alone, Himachal hosted 1.8 crore domestic tourists, the second-highest on record after 2017’s 1.91 crore — an overwhelming figure for a state with a resident population of just 75 lakh. During peak tourist season, over 40,000 vehicles enter the state daily, choking narrow, decades-old roads in major hill towns.

While the state is marketed as an “eco-friendly” destination, ground realities reveal a different picture. Ecologically sensitive slopes are dug up indiscriminately, construction often flouts environmental safeguards and sustainable development remains more of a policy slogan than a practical reality.