Assessment of Eco Tourism in Varanasi Expanse: Strategies for Sustainable Development
Abstract
“Keeping Nature intact with Social & Economical prospect of an area & people is Eco Tourism in Varanasi Region.” Potentially sound Varanasi Region’s geographical assessment for Eco Tourism & Product enhancement with sustainability is the primary aim of the paper. At the same time economical & social viability of eco tourism for local community in Varanasi Region is prospective aim of the paper. Being nature’s bounty in vast Gangetic plains, Varanasi Region (Sonbhadra, Mirzapur & Chandauli) low hill areas with numerous waterfalls, natural sites, and forests with many herbal plants, rich wild life is undoubtedly the best a tourist can experience among the most fertile land area in India. The region’s off the beaten tracks places has the potential to enhance tourist’s stay in Varanasi. Region rich biodiversity can be put intact with community participation with Eco Tourism. Economical viability of the region can be answered with this eco tourism potential study.
Key Words: Eco Tourism, Sustainable Development, Economical Prospect & Varanasi Region.
Introduction
The Varanasi Region included in this research paper has parts of Sonbhadra, Mirzapur & Chandauli districts. Varanasi being the cultural capital of India attracts numbers of tourists & being in vicinity this region has all that can be developed as a renowned Ecotourism hot spot. Region laying nearly 120km distance range from Varanasi can be accessed easily by the tourists. Natural sites & different waterfalls are one aspect of this region with two famous wild life sanctuaries Chandra Prabha & Kaimur wild life sanctuary. Salkhan Fossil Park which is the world’s oldest geological site is nearly 17km from Robertsganj in Kaimur wildlife division. Lakhaniy rock paintings which is estimated 4000 years old has numerous drawings of nomadic history. Eco valley in Kaimur wildlife division is unique where voice thrown in one direction eco to the whole valley. All these spots have tremendous potential to be a well known ecotourism spot. While evaluating ecotourism potential areas, it should be looked at Social, Economical & Environmental issues. The region’s environmental uniqueness is well defined with the flora & fauna found here. At Sociological & Economical front, area is lacking behind & ecotourism can be an answer for this. The world Conservation Union (IUCN) defines ecotourism as: “Environmentally responsible travel & visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy & appreciate nature (& any accompanying culture features-both past & present) that promotes conservation has low negative visitor impact, & provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local population” (IUCN-1996). According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) tourism that involves travelling to relatively undisturbed natural areas with the specified objectives of studying, admiring & enjoying the scenery & it’s wild plants & animals, as well as any existing cultural aspects ( both of the past & present) found in these areas is defined as ecotourism. An optimum number of environment friendly visitor activities, which do not have any serious impact on the ecosystem & the local community & the positive involvement of the local community in maintaining the ecological balance & some of its key elements (UNWTO- 2002). The general principals of ecotourism guiding the initiatives of the Ministry are as under: The local community should be involved leading to the overall economic development of the area, The likely conflicts between resource use for eco-tourism and the livelihood of local inhabitants should be identified and attempts made to minimize the same, The type and scale of eco-tourism development should be compatible with the environment and socio-cultural characteristics of the local community, and It should be planned as a part of the overall area development strategy, guided by an integrated land-use plan avoiding inter-sectoral conflicts and ensuring sectoral integration, associated with commensurate expansion of public services (Ministry of Tourism, India). The Figure -1 explains Eco Tourism as an equal proportion of Sociology of the Area, Environmental Valuation of the Area & Economical advancement of the local community. Its focus starts with the engagement of the local community in social prospect of the development of the area for personal betterment of the locals & preservation of the cultural heritage of the people. Eco Tourism implementation starts with a long term benefits of the people keeping in mind the value of resources & minimal degradation of the resources. It’s more like enlightenment of the local about a new area for their overall problems in life to cater with a different prospective.
These definitions indicate few important issues towards ecotourism; from social perspective it should be based on community participation & monitory benefits reaches to locals. Environmental issues for economic viability should never be neglected with clearly defined “carrying capacity.” Local community participation will deter illegal mining & deforestation & help them in social & economical up-enlistment. Being cultural capital of India Varanasi reckons tourists from over the world but duration of stay is low with tourists. The region’s off the beaten tracks places has the potential to enhance tourist stay in Varanasi. Region rich biodiversity can be put intact with community participation with Eco Tourism. A social forestry museum, which will give extensive details of the flora and fauna of the area, should be developed there. The entire range has a large number of rare herbal trees, which can be of major interest to not just botany students, but also research scholars. There are trees in this range which are as old as over 150 years. Hence, they can be a major attraction for eco-tourists. There should be developed nature huts, where tourists can see the lifestyle of the tribes and at the same time live like them.
Problem & Areas of discussion
As discussed above Tourists visiting Varanasi explore cultural aspect of this cultural capital of India. They visit temples & Ghats to understand the life style & religious values of Hindus & one of the oldest living cities alive of world. But their stay in comparison to the sights available in this region is low & can be gauged to more by using well planned manner development of Eco tourism spots in this region. Economical prospect of Varanasi is so important for nearby area & people tend to shift to it instead to use their potentially sound resources. These resources of the region can be used sensibly to economical viability of the region with a well planned Sustainable development with tourism practices. So the study focuses chiefly on the issues & gives a potentially viable statement that Varanasi region (Sonbhadra, Mirzapur & Chandauli) is potentially equipped to be a famous ecotourism spot, which are the places of interest & how it could be developed as a sustainable tourist destination with community participation.
The study has been conducted with the following objectives
-Varanasi Region’s geographical assessment for Eco Tourism & Product enhancement with sustainability is the primary aim of the paper.
- At the same time economical & social viability of eco tourism for local community in Varanasi Region is prospective aim of the paper.
Methodology
The paper is a descriptive study with available secondary data from forestry department & other government organizations. Comparative assessment is main work to propose different tourist activities & centres in this region. At the same time different site visits are done to state actual condition prevailing there. More than following a set methodology an outline is drawn about the places of this region & the measures to be taken for further research. Prior research done on Sal-khan Fossil Park is used to state details about it. Initiatives taken by tourism department & different NGOs is considered & used to form different measures that should be taken for development of this region as an ecotourism place.
Places of Interest for Ecotourism Activity Development in Region
Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary
The Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary, established in 1982, is spread over an area of about 501 km2 of Mirzapur & Sonbhadra District. The Sanctuary has a wide variety of wildlife in its lush green dense forest cover with numerous waterfalls, treasure of pre-historic caves, rock paintings & heritage of rare fossils. It is an ideal spot for ecotourism activities. Animals found here- are Black Buck, Chital, Sambhar, Chinkara, Blue Bull, Indian Monkey, Baboons (Langoor), Rabbits, Porcupine, Wild Dogs, Wild Cat, Snake, Tiger, Leopard, Wolf, Mongoose, Bear, Jackal,Peafowl, Ratal. Black Buck- also called Indian Antelope is a rare & protected species of deer. They can be seen wandering in their natural habitat here. According to their last official count (2001-2002) the total number of black buck in the sanctuary was 221.Birds- Grey Quail, Doves, Francolin, Black Partridge,Coloured Francolin,Red spur,Pigeon, Blue pigeon,Fowl, sand Ground.Migratory birds- Grey duck, Cotton Teal.
Lakhania Paintings (Rock Paintings)
Rock paintings found in the cave of this area are about 4000 years old and were discovered by Carlleyle in 1968. Most of the paintings are in terracotta colour & depict hunting, cattle grazing, war scenes, worshipping, bee-keeping, decorative floor designs, meeting, domestic chores etc.
Echo Valley- It is natural valley where phenomenon of echo is distinctly observed. Any sound thrown in the direction of the valley reflects its echo.
Chandra Prabha Wildlife Sanctuary
Chandra Prabha Wild Life Sanctuary, once a habitat of Asiatic Lions, has all the natural ingredients to become a beautiful ecotourist activity spot. It has been endowed with beautiful spots, dense forest, and scenic waterfalls like Raj Dari & Dev Dari & a dam nearby called Chandra Prabha Dam. The Sanctuary was established in 1957 and sprawls over an area of 9,600 hect. The core area of the Sanctuary covers over 2,686 hect., while the buffer area covers 66000 hect., which also includes Kashi Wildlife Division. It was the habitat of Asiatic Lion from 1957-1970 but after that lions disappeared from here. In the past when naxal problem was not there people used to flock around here & enjoy the wildlife, forest & natural beauty in winter season, and also during rainy season when waterfalls add greater attraction to the lush green environment of the sanctuary. It serves as a natural & ideal habitat with its grasslands, many caves in Vindhyan area & waterfalls for a host of animals & plants (medicinal also) and has a great potential to develop ecotourism activity in the sanctuary where people can enjoy natural beauty & bio-diversity. Animals like Leopard, Black Buck, Chital, Sambhar, Nilgai (blue bull), Wild Boar, Porcupine, Indian Gazelle, Rabbit, Monkey, Chinkara, Chausingha, Hyena, Wild Cat, Jackal, Wild Fox & others. Beside this, there is wide variety of colourful birds & creeping animals (poisonous & non poisonous) in the sanctuary. Chandra Prabha & Karmnasha rivers, flowing through the sanctuary have a variety of fish. A remarkable growth in the population of some beasts like Leopards & Boars was seen in the past 3-4 years.
Raj Dari & Deo Dari- Surrounded by the forest area, this stepped waterfall is the main attraction point for the tourists. A picnic spot has been developed by the forest department near the fall from where people can enjoy the natural beauty of the fall. It is about 500 mts. down the stream below Raj Dari waterfall.
Chandra Prabha Dam - This tourist attraction spot is located up stream on Chandra Prabha River near the sanctuary and is the source of water for both the waterfalls. The dam named Chandra Prabha has been constructed by Irrigation Department. One Nature Interpretation Centre, showing the names of different species, a library & resource centre, a small Canteen and a Guest House of Forest Dept. (under DFO, Ramnagar) having seven suites available at Rs. 100-300, are located inside the sanctuary, near Raj Dari waterfall.
Salkhan Fossil Park
Salkhan Fossil Park is a geological heritage of Sonbhadra district. The age of these tree fossils as estimated by geologists is around 1400 million years and dates back to Proterozoic Period. The fossils which are basically petrified tree stumps appear as rings on the boulders scattered around the area. These fossils are of Algae Stromotolites type, which are the major attraction for tourists.
The fossil park is spread over an area of about 25 hectare inside Kaimoor Wildlife Sanctuary and is larger than the Yellow Stone National Park of USA.
Another fossil park was discovered in Sonebhadra disrtrict recently. Over 150-crore-year-old fossils were found in Badagaon village under the Chopan Vikas Khand. The fossils are greater in number than those found in the park of Salkhan village. After identification and discovery of one more fossil park in Sonebhadra district, the district has found its place not only in Uttar Pradesh but also on the world map. The district has this honour as two fossil parks were found in a district and a Vikas Khand. Now the Sonebhadra district is being considered as a lucky place where the first evidence of life on earth was found. After the discovery of a large number of fossils there, the possibility of finding hydrocarbon. uranium and phosphorite has increased. The new fossil park of Badagaon was discovered when Dr. Mukund Sharma, a scientist of the Birbal Sahani Institute in Lucknow, and Vijay Shankar Chaturvedi, a journalist, were at the fossil park in Salkhan village.
District Mirzapur has the same features lush green valley in rainy seasons, tribal villages, numerous waterfalls, & numbers of trekking tracks around the terrain. This part is rich in history as well; the Belan River Valley has evidences of Paleolithic age. The district has many tribal villages that can be developed as ecotourism activity places. Here community participation can raise their financial condition & at the same time environmental issues would be damaged to a least extent. Cultural integration of the tribes living in the area will harness the basic problem of local population engagement to sustainable development of the region. Their all around issues of daily life will convert into an attraction with minor modifications & passing on the age old cultural aspect of the tribes will be an added advantage for the locals.
Feasibility study of the different tourist spots in the region shows very high percentage on attraction parameters in tourist rankings. Selected foreign tourists ranking given to the tourist spots in controlled groups showed higher liking towards the spots but at the same time uncontrolled foreign tourists as well as domestic tourists showed passive liking when asked the same questions toward the same spots. On the other hands infrastructural developments in the area chiefly accommodation & transportation facility & roads conditions are given sufficient to insufficient liking when asked to both the controlled & uncontrolled groups. In accommodation staying facilities provided to the controlled groups with the help of local people in the nearby areas mainly in temporary facilities were liked to certain degree with scope of improvement.
In other aspect when the overall picture is tried to draw with the help of overall planning prospective of the area with questions like community participation by indigenous people, awareness of the places, promotional ground, local understanding of tourism business, government participation, guides etc. the picture showed a grim reality of high negligence on the hands of participatory developers group.
When community participation was asked to controlled groups of foreign tourists from the local it resulted in higher points but picture was grim for uncontrolled group of foreign tourists. Awareness of the places came low for both domestic & international tourists. Promotion of the places by travel agents in controlled groups was so low & even to darken the picture government participation was not even visible to any level. Local guides got a higher mark in comparison to government participation because of the same guides were found guiding the tourists in Varanasi & had liking to guide tourists at selected places but again in the controlled groups only. But marking was low itself because they showed no point initiatives on their own for tourists to take them independently on their own. With the data evaluation results showed planning for the region should be in controlled tourists groups with development of basic infrastructure & at the same time educating locals to participate & preserve their local cultural heritage for further generations.
Community Based Tourism & Discussion
One major aspect of this study is to know the potential of Community participation in this region for sustainable development through tourism’s practices. People living in this area are chiefly dependent on the agricultural practices & to a greater extent the forest areas. They use forest for day to day living & many a times for higher returns, use unethical practices. With this new higher return economical practice they will learn to use it to limited extent & preserve the forest for a planned sustainable development. Points that came through the study are:-
1- Villagers need to be educated for tourism practices
2- Forest preservation will be chiefly achieved
3- Economical needs are met in sustainable manner
4- Cultural heritage will be inducted with a source of day to day living
Community Awareness of Tourism
From the interviews of community members there is not much awareness that their communities have potential for tourism. None of the villagers interviewed had ever considered tourism as an important economic activity for their community. Their serving attitude for the guests is confined to general traits of Indians of Atithi Devo Bhavah, but consideration of it as an economic viable business is none so ever.
Existing Tourism Activities
The only tourism activities encountered in the area had to do with sacred temples, as mentioned above, forest temples, and remnants of old forts just passing by to the places mentioned above. These are the only signs of a tourism industry in this region. There were no souvenir stands and few hotels or resorts. The tourism in the area seemed very small scale and local.
Findings
As with the detailed discussion one factor comes out that this region has tremendous potential for ecotourism activities & can be developed as the world famous ecotourism spot. The USP of this region is that after years of modernization in nearby areas few pockets have sustained age old life style & environment. Rather than harnessing it for modern development its real development with sustainable understanding could be answered by tourism. As tourism has many negative impacts as well so choosing the best form of tourism that can be developed here is correct measure. Ecotourism with its limited approaches can be one of the alternatives for sustainable development of this region. The living here has a calm approach towards life rather hassling to extricate everything from mother earth. They love to live a peaceful life & at the same time they can be trained for the participation in the ecotourism activity. Few of the things that need proper care from government side is basic infrastructure like connectivity, basic accommodation that is similar to the environment here, & sites management with minimal outside influences. This region having three pre historic sites can be so popular among selected class of tourists that the region will come up in world famous ecotourism spot. But lazy approach of government is neglecting one of the gems of India. Different data of various kind & research should be available with these findings till now no surveys have been done to evaluate the carrying capacity of these places. These places are so delicate that numbers of tourists can’t be thrown for economic motives.
Conclusion & Further Scope of Research
Varanasi Region (Sonbhadra, Mirzapur & Chandauli) has tremendous potential to be a world famous ecotourism spot. Region, being rich in biodiversity & natural sites can be an answer for length of tourist stay in Varanasi. Including these areas in tourist map of Uttar Pradesh will surely increase niche cliental in this region as they get a chance not only to see the cultural capital of India but the rich biodiversity of this region as well. Initial visit should be of researchers & scientists from world over by government initiatives. On second phase other interested tourists should be given a chance to explore these places. As the place gets famous other tourists will come to see it. An extensive survey should be done to know the carrying capacity of this eco fragile region that can answer how many numbers of tourists should be targeted in a year. Economical aspect of ecotourism is surely in community favor & as the benefit lands in right hands they come to preserve their cultural heritage more enthusiastically. General training of the group of people from this region is must as they should have primary knowledge of travel business management. People, who left this place for other works & are educated, should be given a chance to participate in this tourism business of their own place. Further longitudinal studies must be done in accordance to know the negative impacts of ecotourism in this region if any, & should be tackled with par excellence. A unique marketing strategy should be designed not to attract numbers of tourism but niche cliental in this region with accordance of its natural heritage & its sustainable capability.
Acknowledgement
This research paper is the result of numerous hardworking and dedicated individuals. The author would like to thank all the villagers of the area who extended their continuous support during the present study. Their enthusiasm and interest towards a new branch of business knowledge is the basis of this study. In addition, sincere thanks go to all of the hotel owners, tourists and government officials who consented to interviews in the process of this research.
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