Safety and eco concerns behind U’khand HC ban

DEHRADUN: On June 5, five tourists from Haryana were arrested on charges of drinking on the Triveni ghat of Ganga in Rishikesh.

Earlier this year, a tourist, Raj (known only by his first name), from Delhi sustained fractures while paragliding in Naukhuchiyatal (Nainital).

And in January, a woman tourist from Delhi drowned in a white water rafting accident.

Instances such as these, as well the environmental toll taken on the river by adventure sports companies, may have prompted a division bench of Uttarakhand high court from banning rafting till the state government framed an oversight policy for it and other adventure sports.

The order also covers paragliding. It is in response to a petition filed in 2014 by Rishikesh-based social activist Hari Om Kashyap.

Rafting in Rishikesh started in the early 1980s and became a huge industry by 2013.

Though no official figures are available, people in the business say 200,000 to 300,000 people raft here every season; rafting is discontinued between July and September. The industry is estimated to generate ₹75-₹80 crore annually.

With over 300 rafting operators on the 36-km Kaudiyala-rishikesh belt, competition is stiff. At times, guests are lured by offering as low as ₹500 per head. A raft can carry up to 7-8 people and there are nearly 1,000 rafts.

“Rafting and beach camping are two components of adventure sports,” said Ratan Aswal, earlier involved in beach camping. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned beach camping in Rishikesh in 2005. Though this ban was revoked in 2017, the forest department is yet to allow beach camping sites.

“Earlier, beach camping sites mushroomed and now there are numerous rafting operators. At times, safety protocols are overlooked. This would have never happened had authorities ever intervened,” he said.

There have been allegations that in a rush to make money, the safety of rafters is often compromised. In January this year, a tourist from Delhi drowned in Ganga while rafting. Apart from the sanctity of the river, the safety aspect was also mentioned by the court in its order.

Gulshan Kumar, a rafting operator, said, “Adventure sports have some degree of risk though we make every effort to ensure the safety of guests.” Subdivisional magistrate (Narendranagar) Lakshmi Raj Chauhan, who monitors rafting activities, said, “I will have to go through the court order before commenting.”

Environmentalists expressed happiness over the court order. Anil Joshi, a Padma Shri awardee who heads the Doon-based Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation, said Uttarakhand was coping with more tourists than its carrying capacity.

“It is time to ponder why NGT and court have to step in to save the Ganga. On weekends, it looks as if there is a raft jam all over the river.

This would not have happened if there was a policy to regulate tourist traffic and operators.”