During past few days, the local media here has been abuzz with the news of Bollywood actors shooting their movies in Kashmir Valley. Shah Rukh in Sonamarg made headlines. People, particularly those affiliated with tourism sector, are happy because more film shootings here would attract more tourists and thus help the local economy. Kashmir used to be the favourite destination of Bollywood and some supper hit films have been shot here in the past. Bollywood’s contribution in popularising the tourist destinations and scenic beauty has been tremendous. However, with the onset of violence in 1990, the film industry was left with no choice but to look elsewhere. Kashmir remained in the web of violence and uncertainty for almost three decades and this period was the most testing time for the tourism industry here. Though every section of the society suffered, those affiliated with tourism sector were the worst hit as the tourist footfall almost vanished. In this backdrop, Bollywood’s re-entry into Kashmir is a good sign. This time around, not only Bollywood but the South India cinema too is looking towards Kashmir as a location for film making. Officials say that more than 300 film shoots were done here last year and this year, as the beginning has been made by the Badshah of Bollywood, expectations are that much more film shoots will be done here.
Film people, who visit Kashmir to shoot their films, are not only boosting the economy here but are, in fact becoming the brand ambassadors of Valley and through their medium introducing Kashmir’s beauty to rest of the country and the larger world. Fortunately, the UT administration’s new film policy has been welcome by film industry and has therefore potential to attract more film crews as filming in Kashmir has been made more film-maker-friendly. More film crews coming to Kashmir means more tourist footfall and more tourist footfall means more revenue. Officials say that last year 1.8 crore tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir (this includes pilgrims to Mata Vaishnu Devi and Baba Amarnath). This year the government is expecting more than two crore tourists. The more situation normalises here, the more tourists would prefer this destination.
That said, while appreciating government’s efforts to boost tourism sector here, it is scary to see how little attention is being paid to environment related issues.Besides hygiene and cleanliness, it is an established fact that mass tourism causes frequent human intervention in the mountains and ecologically rich areas and eventually makes irreparable damage to these natural resources. In Kashmir, we have witnessed that glaciers are melting at a fast pace and more than fifty percent of water receding during the past thirty years. Some years back, a Sumo Taxi stand was made operational very near to the Thajwas glacier in Sonamarg and its impact is visible on the glacier. The fast melting of glaciers has resulted into the scarcity of water and last year we hadn’t sufficient water for irrigation in comparison to what we had some two-three decades ago. The water shortage has forced people to convert their paddy land into apple orchards causing huge damage to the agriculture sector. Besides, over the years the government has allowed unabated construction at tourist destinations and on the hill stations, causing damage to forests, water bodies, and so on.It is true that Kashmir needs tourism and tourists but it is also important to think ‘at what cost.’
