Tourists banned from Bir rivulets

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, May 25

To check the pollution and contamination of drinking water in Bir and adjoining villages, the Irrigation and Public Health Department (IPH) today banned the entry of tourists to local rivulets, which are a major source of potable water supply to Bir and 20 other villages.

Villagers protest

• The Tribune reported last week that residents of Bir and adjoining areas staged a protest over the unplanned growth of tourism, which led to problems such as the contamination of local water sources, improper garbage disposal and littering of garbage in forested areas.
• Acting on the complaints, the IPH department banned tourists’ access to local rivulets — sources of potable water to Bir and 20 other villages.

Last week, Bir residents staged a protest calling for a ban on tourists’ access to these water sources.

Tourists often bathed in the rivulets and used its water for household purposes, contaminating the source of water, the protesters alleged.

Acting on the complaints of the villagers, the IPH Department, with the help of the police, today swung into action and dismantled a tent put up by a foreigner near a water stream on government land.

According to the police, domestic and international tourists visited the woman daily — allegedly polluting the water source and littering garbage in the area.

The police added that the tourist was living in her tent for the past few months without the permission of the IPH or the Forest Department.

In addition to concerns about pollution of a drinking water source, the woman was removed also due to the fact that the area was in a dense forest and she could be attacked by wild animals if she continued to live there.

This issue was highlighted in the columns of The Tribune last week when residents of Bir and its adjoining areas staged a protest over the unplanned growth of tourism, which had led to various problems such as the contamination of local water sources, improper garbage disposal and littering of garbage in forested areas.

“Tourists have been flocking Bir-Billing in large numbers every day, polluting natural resources at different places. Area residents fear that if urgent steps are not taken by the

administration to safeguard the sources of drinking water in Bir, they could be struck by an epidemic. The tourists bathe in the local rivulets — major sources of potable water supply to Bir, Chogan, Keyor, Lambahar and other lower areas of the valley,” said Bir Billing Paragliding Association president Anurag Sharma.

“Bir-Billing is a major tourist destination — among the top 10 paragliding sites in the world. However, tourists here have been spoiling the beauty of the place. Open air defecation by visitors and dumping of plastic and other waste in local rivulets, riverbanks and forests is rampant here,” he added.