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Expressing displeasure over the sorry state of affairs and breakdown of ecological system due to uncontrolled and unregulated tourism in Doon Valley region — comprising Dehradun, Mussoorie, Rishikesh, Haridwar and adjoining areas, Uttarakhand HC on Tuesday asked the state government to explain within three weeks why it failed to prepare a tourism development plan (TDP) and get it approved by the Centre, as mandated under the Doon Valley Notification.
The HC has also summoned the state tourism secretary on the next date of hearing after three weeks. The HC was hearing a petition filed by lawyer and activist Akash Vashishtha seeking the court’s direction to the government to take immediate steps to prepare a TDP and a master plan for the entire Doon valley.
A record record number of 2 million visitors came to Scotland’s 120 distilleries in 2018-19, up a whopping 56 per cent over 2010, and India, China, Spain and France were pinpointed as “growing markets” for this travel as per 2019 tourism figures. This year, that figure would have definitely gone up.
Vashisht said the HC found no reason to understand why the state failed to comply with the provisions of such an important notification, which bans certain categories of industries, mining, and also lays down guidelines for the preparation of TDP, master plan and land use plans for the entire Doon valley region. The HC remarked, “There is an uncontrollable number of tourists coming to this area every day. There is no count of the number of vehicles entering this area. Do you have any count of how many hotels there are, and from where they are drawing water.” Petitioner’s counsel Rakshit Joshi told the court that the Doon Valley Notification was the first notification in the country to declare an area an eco-sensitive zone.
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