List of
abused tourist is long and never ending. People come and enjoy their part and leave with
some irreversible damages to the environment. Latest and sad entrant to the
list is Pangong tso (tso for lake in Ladakhi). Located in the Himalayas
situated at a height of about 4,250 m (13,900 ft) and is 134 km (83.3 mi) long.
Most of its part lies in Tibet and is claimed by India.
Once it
was featured in mani ratnam’s movie dil se in song satrangi re there was no
stopping the affair between Bollywood and Pangong tso. Long gone are the days
when only the enthusiasts could make it across the rohtang pass to reach Leh
and then to the Pangong lake and gone are the days when you would be alone on
the Leh - Manali highway for countless kilometers on your bike. Its appearance
in the movie ‘3 idiots’ triggered a tsunami of tourism in this region.
With
increased Chinese intrusion in this region it became more important for India
to strengthen its claim over this region. As a result the Inner Line Permit (ILP)
was abolished and now Indians are free to visit this place without any permission,
thus going one step further to trigger that wave of tourism in the region. Where
the increased tourism meant more income and better lifestyle for the people of
Leh and Ladakh it also meant a huge overload of tourism wastage generated every
month. The serene mountains, the shining blue lake never saw so many people in
their lifetime.
Although
boating is banned in this lake for security reasons, driving big SUVs into the
lake for a ‘perfect click’ and littering in and around the lake has worsened
the situation for Pangong tso. Never seen hikes in the temperature have been
recorded in the area. Today we cannot say that people are not aware enough that
they don’t know about the concept of garbage disposal and simple dustbins or
simply the term global warming. People have become insensitive towards the need
of our environment.
We the
people of India need to realize that these tourist destinations are in
important source of local as well as global economy,we need to collectively
protect them so that our future generations can see them in their true colors
and you don’t have to point to a barren piece of land and say that there used
to be a beautiful lake here which used to freeze in winters without being salty
in nature. Let’s come forward and help Pangong tso to flourish as it has been
forever.
Arun Dahiya
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