The Case Of Shimla Tourism Essay

Shimla, the former summer capital of colonial India and present capital of Himachal Pradesh, is one of the most picturesque hill stations of North India. Apart from being the administrative headquarters of the state it is a famous and an attractive tourist in large numbers every year. It is also an entry pint to various other tourist resorts and recreational centers in the upper region of Himachal Pradesh, thus a convenient stop-over for tourists.

The journey of Shimla from a serene hill station to a bustling city as an over exploited tourist destination has been gradual and not a sudden outburst. It’s a place where things have definitely gone wrong when it comes to sustainability.

3.1 Growth as a Tourist destination

The growth of Shimla is organic expanding from a village to a town and now a city. http://www.google.co.in/url?source=imglanding&ct=img&q=http://entirekingdom.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/shimla-city.jpg&sa=X&ei=ayOtUKzXMdGt0AG93YCABA&ved=0CAoQ8wc4Tw&usg=AFQjCNEWb6Gec0PTY-FtYYtu6cxPcD0PTg

Tourist activities are concentrated along the core of the British town that is the Mall, Cart Road and Lakar Bazaar.

The over developed southern side of Shimla

Source: http://entirekingdom.com

The man made activities have influenced mainly the southern slope Shimla since the northern slope receives no sunlight. It is difficult to find any open space or undeveloped site on the southern slope. There has been extensive cutting of hill slopes.

Himachal Pradesh received a total of 151 lakh tourists in 2011 out of which 20% was contributed by Shimla, the highest for any Himachal destination. The growth rate for tourists in Shimla has been 7% recently.

Source: http://www.kpmg.com/IN/en/IssuesAndInsights/ThoughtLeadership/Tourism-in-himachal-pradesh.pdf

3.2 Impact of Tourism on the Natural and Built Environment

The southern slope of Shimla has been almost entirely built over, as a result the original pattern of slopes have completely disappeared.

At places slope instability has been caused due to poor drainage facility of the area.

Analysis of the slope reveal that in order to obtain maximum advantage of the sun, buildings have come down in steps, even in areas where the slope is more thanb the normally permissible limits. (Beyond 36 degree are considered unsuitable).

Some of the buildings are in dilapidated conditions because of the lack of maintenance and use of poor construction material than due to slope failure.

Another impact of mass tourism is the crash on the local society. It has changed the structure of society itself by favoring certain groups of the population that are able to interact with the tourists and provide services to them.

As more and more tourists came in, the development of tourist and infrastructure facilities has disturbed the mountain eco-system.

The damages of alterations in some of these areas have started to look like the places that a visitor wanted to escape.

Excessive water consumption and ill management of the resource has led to a major water crisis.

Loss of identity and culture. The Britishers left a legacy of red sloping roofs behind which gave the town its character. The modern constructions are flat roofs unresponsive to the climate and identity both.

Over intensive urbanization.

Illegal buildings have cropped up everywhere.

The traffic due to tourists and the overcrowding has disturbed the locals’ daily life and system.

Overload of infrastructure (e.g. Car parking, roads, buildings, water supply)

Changes in the urban fabric.

New architectural styles which are at ties not responsive to site and climate and also the general image of the town.

Spectacular views blocked by ugly concrete structures.

3.3 Identification of issues

After analyzing the impacts and statistical data, the following issues were identified with respect to construction, planning and architecture of the place.

Haphazard development of tourist infrastructure causing architectural pollution and degrading the ecology of the place as well.

Earlier buildings were not more than two to three storey high, but now due to less land available we can see buildings as high as six to seven storey high. This exerts massive pressure on the soil and causes visual blockades which are aesthetically displeasing.

Due to increasing tourist influx in the town, there is a need for more tourist infrastructure and to accommodate slopes more than 36°, which are considered unbuildable, are being cut down causing severe land and soil erosion. Moreover ‘hills are being cut down in the hill station’ giving way to an ugly concrete jungle.

Irregular checks and insufficient guidelines for development of tourist infrastructure and construction activities.

The government and tourism bodies have aimed for growth in tourism but have only recently imbibed sustainable growth of tourism in its policies and that too non seriously.

3.4 Conclusions and suggestions

Shimla is endowed with immense potent as a place of tourist attraction, besides being a gateway to other parts of Himachal Pradesh. It requires special consideration in conservation of ecological order. There are certain spots, which are environmentally rich and need conservation. Many of the problems, which make tourism unsustainable, relate to the fact that many principles fundamental to sustainable tourism are not acknowledged. They have not been adopted in the conception, planning, design and development of tourism facilities in Shimla. A well managed, slow paced, controlled, integrated tourism development is the option. A set of guidelines and suitable approach scheme needs to be drafted and implemented that calls for sustainable progress of tourism.(Parmar, 2003, p. 50)

Sustainable forms of tourism like ecotourism should be promoted to encourage lessening the ecological damage being done.

The primary objective of sustainable tourism strategy should be to promote planning, design and construction of all tourist infrastructure and buildings that are environmentally friendly, do not spoil the character of the place, help integrate social and cultural aspects to it.

In fact one of the most imperative issues in sustainable growth of tourism resources is the contemplation and expansion of design and building standards in order to reach an optimum use of energy, water and land resources. This will result in efficient management for preserving the natural and built attractions in tourism industry.

Regarding the socio-cultural aspect, Shimla has lost its identity especially when it comes to architecture. The buildings should be symbolic of the rich legacy Shimla has or reflect the culture and traditions of the locals. As of now the post-British construction is merely concrete with climatically and site unresponsive features and structure.

In Shimla, things would not have reached such a drastic situation had there been an effective land use plan which controlled the tourist developments and demarcated boundaries for such development.

Buildings that have low environment impact throughout their life cycle should be promoted. Infact the norms should govern that. Importantly they should respond to the climate and context. Also the buildings meant for tourists should have high satisfaction levels and provide meaningful experience to tourists. The idea of sustainable tourism should be clear so that awareness spreads among the community and tourists both.(Khaksar, p. 37)