Increasing activities on river Ganga are proving hazardous
27 Mar 2008
River Ganga in Uttarakhand offers uncommon environmental diversity, impressive scenery and an outstanding adventurous and wilderness experience. All these attributes have contributed towards wild land based recreation along its course.
A prospective study, claimed to be the first of its type by its author, Dr Nehal A. Farooquee of the GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development (Garhwal unit) -to asses the impact of white water rafting and camping on the socio-environmental issues in an around the camping and sports sites has brought startling facts- overlooked by the administration and planners so far -to the forefront.
In an exclusive interview to Hindustan Times Dr Farooquee reveals that in between Kaudiyala and Rishikesh along the Badrinath highway “where river rafting and camping along the river Ganga is a recent phenomenon, just 15 years old,” the number of camping sites “has shot up from 4 in 1996 to over 45, with 1,83,570 sq m of area allotted to them.” He further informs that all camp operators have been using “more area of the beach than what is actually allotted to them.
Though toilets are permitted in the form of dry pit tanks situated 60 m away from the sand back of the river beach yet most of them are situated not more than 10 m from the sand back or even right on the sand itself within the submergence level of the Ganga during the monsoons. Similarly campfire too takes place whenever the tourists are present.
News Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/hindustantimes/
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