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Uttrakhand to restrict tourists in eco-sensitive zones.............
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State at the top in tourism development, says Selja...........
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Sikkim to set up panels for climate change action plan........
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Climate change: action plan on websites soon.................
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Jungle Lodges to up eco-tourism footprint......................
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Uttrakhand to restrict tourists in eco-sensitive zones [top of page]
Gangotri, May 3: Gangotri, Valley of Flowers and other highly eco-sensitive zones of the Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand may be becoming hot sites on the tourist map. But the Uttarakhand government now wants to put up more restrictions on travellers in order to protect the precious biodiversity of the Himalayas, including the glaciers. According to a rough estimate, thousands of pilgrims, who visit the hill state during the Kumbh, Chardham and Kanwar and other religious congregations, travel to these areas leaving heaps of non-degradable waste, including plastic, which are hazardous to environment.
After the Centre decided to ban two key hydropower projects – the 480-Mw Pala Maneri and 381-Mw Bhaironghati in the Bhagirathi valley last month to protect the biodiversity of the region, the state government has now decided not to allow tourists to come near Gaumukh glacier, the origin of the Ganga in Uttarkashi district. The Gangotri National Park authorities would now put up sign boards and erect fencing just 500-metres before the Gaumukh to forbid tourists from trekking beyond.
In 2008, the government had restricted the number of tourists visiting Gaumukh and other Gangotri glaciers to only 150 per day. Another move is afoot to even restrict the number of tourists to 100 in future. According to a report of the Dehra Dun-based Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), the glaciers are melting at a rate of 17-23 metres per year. The issue had become more contentious in the wake of controversy surround the inter-governmental panel on climate change (IPCC). “Unregulated tourism and climate change are big concerns before us. We are trying our best to protect all the sites which are highly fragile,” said Uttarakhand Principal Chief Conservator of Forests R B S Rawat.
Similarly, the government is trying to put restrictions on pilgrims to Hemkund Sahib and other shrines which are close to the Valley of Flowers, a world heritage site. Thousands of Sikhs travel every year to Hemkund Sahib, which is situated in an area known for its rich flora and fauna, and leave huge waste. The government had restricted the entry of tourists to the 14-km long area of the Nandadevi Biosephere Reserve few years ago.
On the other hand, the government is also planning to carry a renewed campaign through tourist brochures and media telling travelers to remain sensitive to these areas. “Leave only footprints and take only memories,” said a brochure on the Nanda Devi National Park issued by the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN), a state government enterprise promoting tourism in the state.
Source: Business Slandered
Dated: 3rd May 2010
State at the top in tourism development, says Selja [top of page]
Development agenda:Union Minister for Tourism Kumari Selja, Union
Minister of State for Defence and Kakinada MP M.M. Pallam Raju and others at
the unveiling of a bronze statue of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy near the YSR
flyover in Kakinada on Friday.
Kakinada: Union Minister for Tourism, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja says Andhra Pradesh has been making the best use of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), and it is at the top in tourism development.
Projects worth Rs. 60,000 crores, including Rs. 4,000 crores in Andhra Pradesh, are being implemented under JNNURM. Chief Minister K. Rosaiah is doing his best to fully utilise the funds being raised under the JNNURM.
Vast potential:
Addressing a public meeting after inaugurating a flyover bridge near the RTC bus station here named after former chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy on Friday, Ms. Selja said Andhra Pradesh had a good potential for development of tourism, particularly along its pristine coastline. She would facilitate tourism development in MP M.M. Pallam Raju's constituency (Kakinada) if he forwarded any proposal. Foreign tourists could be attracted to this beautiful stretch of the East coast and even domestic tourism had rich potential in these parts of the State.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was working day and night for the country's development under the guidance of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and other such flagship schemes of the Central Government were achieving tangible results, she said.
Mr. Pallam Raju said the YSR flyover was the second one to be constructed in Kakinada town 28 years after the first flyover was laid on the main road. The YSR flyover cost Rs. 18 crores. The State government's share was Rs. 12 crores and the balance was borne by the Railways.
Development works:
State Minister for R&B G. Aruna Kumari said permissions were given for construction of eight railway bridges in East Godavari district in the last two years. Six of them were in different stages of construction. The railway flyover at Sambamurthy Nagar level-crossing in Kakinada was in progress and work on the flyover at Kondayyapalem would commence soon.
Seven roads in the State were being widened to four lanes and two (with paved shoulders) as part of the upgrading and improvement component of the World Bank – funded A.P Road Sector Project. It had been decided to widen the 61.6 km Kakinada – Rajahmundry road at a cost of Rs. 265 crores. Union Minister of State for Textiles Panabaka Lakshmi, Rajya Sabha member T. Ratnabai, State Ministers Botcha Satyanarayana, P Subhaschandra Bose, P. Viswaroop, MLC K.V.V. Satyanarayana Raju, ZP chairman Ch. Venugopala Krishna, MLAs D. Chandrasekhara Reddy, Raja Ashok Babu, Kakinada Mayor K. Saroja and others were present.
Source: The Hindu
Dated: 15th May 2010
Tourists make beggars in Puttaparthy opulent [top of page]
Richie rich:Children who go begging in Puttaparthy know the business well.
Anantapur: The spiritual town of Puttaparthy is a haven for beggars in the country, thanks to the inflow of thousands of foreign tourists every year. Their outlook is deceptive. Revelations about them make one dumbfounded.
The beggars maintain bank accounts in nationalised banks and even in private banks in Puttaparthy and have deposits to the tune of lakhs of rupees. They are also in businesses--from running a restaurant to promoting piggery--and also in micro-financing. Children earn a minimum of Rs.500 or so and some of them are well versed in multiple languages. There are children who speak Italian, French, German, Spanish and English because of their association with the foreign visitors who take pity on the begging children and often give alms in different currencies.
Some of the beggars are engaged in money exchange services like offering dollars, pounds and Euros in exchange for rupees on commission basis. Some foreigners pay them in Indian currency too. Some families earn Rs.10,000 per day.
Foreign tourists are also moved at the plight of babies who are placed in small baskets and are heard crying for milk. Foreigners buy milk powder packets for them which are immediately returned to the very shop-keeper for a little lesser price and the beggars make good with the money earned on milk powder. The women hire the babies to make money.
Some foreigners, with a view to stopping child begging, had made vain attempts by opening children's homes and also by sending the children to hostels for educating them but the children who are accustomed to begging and earning fat amounts and to addictions like smoking, come out of the hostels as soon as the foreigners leave the place. The parents of these children also demand the hostel managers to return the money paid to them by the foreigners.
Source: The Hindu
Dated: 15th May 2010
Pallam Raju seeks funds for tourism circuit [top of page]
Kakinada: Union Minister of State for Defence and Kakinada MP M.M. Pallam Raju has requested Union Minister for Tourism, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja to provide financial assistance of Rs. 50 crores for development of a mega heritage tourism circuit in East Godavari district for which the district administration has identified 30 heritage temples and monuments.
Andhra Pradesh Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organization (APITCO) has been appointed consultants by the District Tourism Promotion Council for preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR). APITCO has already initiated the process of field study for ascertaining the feasibility of the locations mentioned in DPR.
It (APITCO) has proposed to create facilities like landscaping and children's parks, compound walls around temples, illumination and lighting at temples, tourist arrival and information centres, mini cultural auditoriums, destination and direction boards, trekking steps and viewing towers and jetties and boating wherever required.
Mr. Pallam Raju also sought an assistance of Rs. 8 crores for development of a beach park at Kakinada in order to transform it into a major tourist destination. The district administration has identified an area of 35 to 45 acres for the purpose.
Source: The Hindu
Dated: 16th May 2010
Sikkim to set up panels for climate change action plan [top of page]
Gangtok, May 18: The Sikkim Government is set to notify working groups for preparation of a State-level action plan on climate change with support from German Technical Cooperation (GTZ).
Briefing the media about the outcome of the two-day meeting held recently under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary, Mr T.T. Dorji and additional Chief Secretary Karma Gyatso on May 14 and May 15 respectively, the State Science & Technology Secretary, Mr M.L. Arrawatia, said that the working groups for preparing an action plan on eight thrust areas affected by climate change will be notified soon by the State government.
“We have identified eight thrust areas for preparation of the State action plan for climate changes. These areas are forests, wildlife, eco-tourism, water resources, energy efficiency, urban habitats, water resources and communities vulnerable to climate change at gram panchayat level,” said Mr Arrawatia.
“The working groups drawn from various departments will deliberate on each sector and come up with their reports. The final report should be ready by October, after which we will do pilot projects on these areas”, said the secretary. He informed that the action plan will contain both short-term and long term measures for the next two decades.
The Secretary added that German Development Bank is already in touch with DONER Ministry to take up the pilot projects for the Northeastern region for the pilot projects. The GTZ has assured to provide capacity building workshops to our working groups and provide consultants for preparation of action plan, he said.
The action plan will give top priority to water resources in both urban and rural areas and those areas vulnerable to climate change up to gram panchayat levels, said Mr Arrawatia.
“Water resources are being top priority for both urban and rural areas keeping in view of the vagaries of nature which has already seen reduction of winter rainfall to sizeable extent. This has affected many of our natural springs in rural areas,” said the secretary. According to Gangtok Met department, 2009 was the warmest year in the century for Sikkim. Mr Arrawatia said that there has been an increase of 0.2 to 0.3 degree Celsius for Sikkim every ten years. So in the past 50 years, temperature in Gangtok has risen by 1 to 1.5 degree Celsius as per the Indian Meteorological department records, he said.
For conserving the water resources, the action plan will include identification of water recharge zones and take measures for recharging the water resources by plantation and rain water harvesting, he said.
In urban areas, the plan will be to restock the catchment areas through planting local varieties of oak trees, he said.
Energy saving devices will be given additional focus in terms of encouraging use of solar devices and replace existing light bulbs with Condensed Florescent Lamps which save 80 percent of energy as compared to a normal electricity bulb, said Arrawatia.
Arrawatia said that Sikkim government in the past two decades has taken several exemplary measures to protect ecology in the Himalayan State. The action plan will further strengthen our steps towards environment protection, he said. During the wrap-up session on May 15, additional Chief Secretary Karma Gyatso said that the proposed action plan should be cohesive and result oriented and added that the various working groups should come out with innovative ideas and alternative solutions for taking appropriate measures for climate change adaptation and mitigation.
A press release informs that Gyatso informed that the State Government has already initiated various measures for protection and preservation of environment and sustainable development and said that the State government will give very high priority for climate change adaptation and mitigation programmes.
Ms. Verra Soltz, Project Director, Natural Resources Management and her team from German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) have assured of technical support regarding capacity building and training of the various working group members and also assured for providing services of experts and consultants to the working groups.
Source:Hindu Business, 18th May 2010
Measures to promote tourism in M.P. [top of page]
All smiles: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan shaking
hands with Shubhadra Urmila Majumdar while presenting the ‘Most Frequent
Tourist-Visiting Madhya Pradesh' award to her in Bhopal on Monday.
Bhopal: To give a fillip to Madhya Pradesh tourism, the State would promote its traditional festival ‘Bhagoria' on the lines of Navratri in Gujarat. “There is a need to brand ‘Bhagoria' festival on the lines of Gujarat's Navratri as it has all the colours to attract tourists,” Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said here on Monday on the occasion of State Tourism Day. ‘Bhagoria' is celebrated before Holi by tribals of Jhabua, Dhar and Barwani districts which are close to Gujarat border. The festival begins nearly 10 days before Holi and culminates on the day of festival of colours.
Mr. Chauhan said there are plans to develop islands situated in the Indira Sagar Project's reservoir on the lines of Singapore's Sentosa to promote tourism in the state. The Chief Minister also emphasised on developing tourism facilities around religious and historic places like Khajuraho, Ujjain and Sanchi as these places are world famous and have lot of potential. He said the airports at Bhopal, Indore and Khajuraho are also being upgraded as an international airports to attract more tourists to the state.
Source: The National
Dated: 25th May 2010
Climate change: action plan on websites soon [top of page]
Bhubaneshwar: Stage is set for the State government to announce its priorities to deal with Climate Change challenges as consultations on the much hyped action plan with various stakeholders coming to end here on Monday. During State-level and regional workshops, around 287 actions had been prioritised. Of which 25 per of the actions are for mitigation, 64 per cent for adaptation and 11 per cent are miscellaneous.
Within the next couple of days, the proposed climate change action plans for Orissa, which was modelled as per the national action plan was expected to be hosted on government websites inviting suggestions and objections, said Ashok Singha of CTRAN, knowledge partner for preparation of the action plan.
The concluding consultation was attended by climate change specialists from DFID S. Mitra, and sector director of World Bank Charles Chromier. Scientists and civil rights activists aired their views on climate change issues and challenges related to the State. Inputs to be received on proposed action plan through website hosting would be sent to working groups, which had prepared draft plans, for making necessary changes. According sources the State government was planning to announce priorities on June 5, World Environment Day. However, announcement of priorities would not mean approval of finalisation of action plan. The draft plans would again go through tests of cabinet sub-committee. The State government had constituted 11 working groups in November last to come out with various suggestions.
Source: The Hindu
Dated: 25th May 2010
Jungle Lodges to up eco-tourism footprint [top of page]
Karnataka:Jungle Lodges & Resorts (JLR), the state-owned eco-tourism company, is expanding its operations in the state to promote eco-tourism. It plans to open five more resorts in select locations, JLR managing director N D Tiwari said. The company is investing Rs 5-7 crore in each resort over the next 12 months to create and expand capacity for stay and leisure activities. “Our plan is to see more natural vistas are opened up for travellers or tourists in the state and facilitate to experience the rich flora and fauna, heritage, weekend getaways, wildlife and allied leisure in the state,” he told reporters.
The 30-year old JLR, presently, operates 13 eco and wildlife resorts at exotic locations in the state, with about 80 per cent occupancy rate round the year. The new eco resorts are coming up at Vilaspur in Bidar district, Talakalale at Jog in Shimoga district, Hampi in Bellary district, Pilikula Nisarga Dhama in Dakshina Kannada district, at Khanapur in Belgaum district and Yagachi in Hassan district.
“Resorts at Vilaspur, Talakalale and Hampi will be completed by 2011, while at Khanapur and Yagachi they are awaiting approval from the Centre and the central zoo authority,” Tiwari said.
During fiscal 2009-10, the resorts had about 80,000 guests, including 40 per cent repeat customers. Unlike in the past, the profile of guests has undergone a sea change, with domestic tourists accounting for 75 per cent of the guests and 25 per cent overseas tourists.
“About 70 per cent of the domestic tourists are from this tech hub comprising of techies, executives, nature lovers and their families,” Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) managing director Vinay Luthra said. As the country’s largest eco and wildlife resort chain, JLR has been providing nature experiences to travellers in idyllic settings. The company is also developing a night safari at Bannerghatta National Park on the outskirts of Bangalore at an estimated cost of Rs 80 crore.
Though JLR survived the impact of slowdown last fiscal with a revenue of Rs 27 crore in 2009-10 as against Rs 26 crore during the previous fiscal, it is projecting Rs 32 crore turnover this fiscal (2010-11), with about 90,000 guests. The company posted a net profit of Rs 4.24 crore in fiscal 2009-10 as against Rs 4.02 crore during fiscal 2008-09.
Source: Business Standard
Dated: 25th May 2010
City to host 2011 World Eco-tourism meet [top of page]
The City will host the 2011 World Eco-tourism Conference, said tourism minister G Janardhan Reddy here on Friday.
Karnataka: Speaking
at the launch of a corporate brochure and picture book to commemorate 30
years of Jungle Lodges and Resorts (JLR), he said the international
convention centre that is being constructed at Devanhalli Business Park
would be ready in time for hosting the event.
“We will also start a Night Safari on the 180-acre Bannerghatta National
Park that has been planned at a cost of Rs 120 crore. Currently, the concept
of night safari is available at only four other places in the world.
Bannerghatta will be the fifth wild life park to start this facility. The
planning for the night safari has been done by the same agency that has done
the night safari project at Singapore,” said Reddy.
In his address, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said he expects Rs 20,000
crore of investment proposals in the State tourism sector at next month’s
‘Global Investors Meet’.
Two books, ‘Wild Vistas’ and ‘Jungle Tales’ were released on the occasion.
Three awards instituted in the memory of Col John Wakefield (Papa), the
founder of JLR were given away on the occasion
Source: Deccan Herald
Dated 28th May 2010
Tap tourism potential' [top of page]
Udhagamandalam: With many over the years preferring to enter Ooty through Kotagiri, a view shared by various sections of the society in Kotagiri is that more attention should be paid to tapping the tourism potential of the place.
Events like the Vegetable Show should be used to enhance awareness among the tourists about the places of interest in and around Kotagiri like Kodanad View Point, Longwood Shola and the Sullivan Memorial.
While doing so it should be ensured that the environment is not affected.
Since Kotagiri has an edge over Ooty vis-à-vis climate and for long it has enjoyed a reputation of being a “pleasant hill station ideal for those who love a quiet life”, activities that go with the ethos of the place should be organised.
Source: The National
Dated: 29th May 2010