Planning and Managing Hill Stations in the Northern Western Ghats

Abstract

In a tropical country like India, where the climate is predominantly hot and dry, Hill Stations haveserved as great retreats for summer vacations. The hill stations are mainly service centers, providingcomfortable stay and travel for tourists. Being tourism destinations, the thrust is always given onincreasing the number of tourists. In recent past, tourist traffic at hill stations has increased significantlyand support infrastructure is being developed for the tourists.The limiting factors that should have natural control over such development are overlooked. This hascaused irreversible damage to the local natural resources, ecology and support systems. Unless a limit onthe total number of visitors is enforced at every destination and followed meticulously, it would not bepossible to maintain aesthetics, atmosphere, sound infrastructure and ecology for these destinations.Importantly, desires and aspirations of local people with their skill set should be integrated in the overallplan.In Maharashtra, majority of existing and upcoming hill stations are in the Western Ghats. Consideringthe ecological fragility of Western Ghats and various life supporting services given by this mountain range,ideally it is not recommended to have any large scale developmental projects. For projects that have alreadybeen approved, interventions to reduce current degradation & restore the near original ecosystem in the areaare now urgently necessary. It is important and possible to cater to the needs of local communities andecosystems and create models with economic benefits in a different way than promoting large scale areadevelopment projects. All future progress should be purely in the interest of maintaining ecologicalintegrity and not short-term economic value. This will need more detailed studies and change in policies.This article uses case studies of two such hill stations, which are also notified ESZ (Ecologically SensitiveZone) in Maharashtra to illustrate the above considerations. The article also evolves a ‘Planning andManagement Strategy’ that could be useful as foundation for upcoming destinations to integrate theecological perspective in the process of planning and development.