Revenue generation with special reference to hydro potential, tourism, flora and fauna. in Himachal Pradesh
Changing fiscal environment and the ever expanding need for government expenditure have led the Government of Himachal Pradesh to explore the possibilities of augmenting its revenues.
Hydro energy potential in himachal Pradesh
The beautiful valleys, gleaming glaciers, gigantic pines, gushing rivers and exquisite flora and fauna compose the symphony that is Himachal Pradesh. Situated in the north western lap of the Himalayas, it is one of the most beautiful and well developed states of India. Many important rivers of the Indian subcontinent either originate or pass through here. These rivers are the Beas, Chenab, the Ravi, the Satluj and the Yamuna. In the last 3-4 decades water from these rivers has increasingly been seen as a precious resource for generating electricity. The identified power potential of these rivers is estimated to be 20415 MW, which is about 14 percent of the total hydro power potential of the country.’ In this chapter we will see how Himachal, after attaining statehood, strived to harness this hydro potential to become a ‘Power State’. The chapter is divided into two sections. The first section discusses the five river systems of Himachal and their hydro-power potential. It also discusses the details of major hydro-projects in the Beas Basin. The second section analyses how Himachal has attempted to harness hydro-power to acquire the status of a ‘Power State.
Tourism in himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is the ultimate travel destination of India for tourists, artists, pilgrims and adventures since time immemorial. The natural scenic beauty, architecture, fair and festivals, salubrious climate and environment, snow-capped peaks, lakes, rivers, glaciers, adventure sports, temples of the region have emerged as the main tourist attractions in this region. Those who are hungry for the scenic beauty, this region offers its cultural richness and antiquity with amusement and environmental variety. The booming tourism industry in Himachal Pradesh is an engine to economic growth in rural areas of the state. Tourism planners need to moderate the level of risk at the destination through risk avoidance or enhancement policies in an attempt to satisfy tourist’s motivations. Tourism has multiplier effect on the economy of Himachal Pradesh. The tourism industry of Himachal Pradesh is making substantial contribution to generation of employment and earning foreign exchange and the government has accorded due priority to ensure its growth over the years. The government of Himachal Pradesh have initiated various developmental plans for the development of infrastructure like railways, air transport, road transport and communication networks in order to promote the tourism in the main tourist destinations.
Tourism is playing a very important role in the socioeconomic development of the state of Himachal Pradesh. As a smokeless industry it is contributing in improving the economic condition of the state on one side and on the other it is resulting into earning foreign exchange. Considering the immense potential of tourism in the state, the government needs to develop efficient strategies to exploit new unexploited areas in such a manner where the local community is involved and benefit accrue to the people of the area. The public involvement in tourism related developmental activities is necessary so that the local community and the villagers realized the importance and benefits from tourism related activities. Therefore, the government need to frame policies which encourage public-private participation in the creation of quality tourism infrastructure to facilitate tourists throughout the state.
Although the majority of the respondents were found satisfied with the infrastructure and other facilities/ services available in the different tourist centers in the state, yet keeping in view the topography of the region the transportation and accommodation plays a very important role in the development of the tourism. Himachal Pradesh is not capable of attracting high-end tourists because of the fact that the state has only three helipads at Shimla, Kullu and Dharmshala, where the flights are very erratic. Moreover, the state has very poor air and rail connectivity. Hence, the government need to arrange the Heli-taxi services on more frequent basis for those tourists who do not prefer to spend long hours on hard road journey. Visitors face difficulty in visiting temples and other religious places because of inadequate road network. Government should build link roads to all such places so that every tourist can easily visit these places.
Adequate accommodation and catering management need to be strengthened in various tourist destinations. More tourism reception centers need to be identified and organized with the objectives to cater the budget and high class tourists travelling by road to visit different locations. These tourism reception centers should provide beverages, food items and snacks at the restaurants at reasonable prices to the tourists. Hence, the state of Himachal Pradesh has vast potential for the tourism throughout the region but there is a need for an effective strategy towards holistic development of tourism in thoroughly integrated way.
Flora and fauna
The green slopes of the hilly ranges are covered with fir, rhododendron, pine and the Himalayan oak. Tibet road is famous for its apple orchards. Animals like Tibetan antelope; the Kiang (Tibetan wild ass); the Himalayan ibex; black and brown bears; horn and musk deer are found here. The State animal of Himachal Pradesh is musk deer. Lush coniferous forests, verdant meadows, strewn with exotic flora, snowy peaks and pristine glaciers make it an ideal Himalayan retreat.
Along with this diversity, comes a vast range of flora and fauna. The outer fringe of Himachal is formed by the Siwalik Hills which are characterized by shallow dips and low dense scrub. The extravagance of the Indian sun mellows as the hills climb higher and tropical vegetation parts to woods of scented pine – which merge into forests of oak and flowering rhododendron. The mid-ranges have the majestic Himalayan cedars (the almost legendary ‘deodar’), and spruce. Then close to the snowline, come stretches of fir, alder and birch. The chil pine which gives the tasty kernel – the ‘Chilgoza’ and huge elms tiling and horse-chestnuts, make cameo appearances.
Wild flowers, a variety of ferns and grasses and rare medicinal herbs form the groundcover – while vast meadows just under the sky, are lined by juniper and lichens. Past the snow peaks, the land is largely arid for the monsoon rains – India’s lifeline; that are forced to remain south of this impassable mountain barrier.
Apples account for the mainstray of Himachal’s rural-agrarian economy and annually, thousands of crores worth of this temperate fruit enter the market from the orchards of Himachal Pradesh. Behind this transformation and behind the beauty blossoms across the hills is a remarkable story. The earliest apples to be introduced into India were the English varieties – Captain Lee took to Kullu valley and Alexander Coutts grew them at Hillock’s head, in Mashobra near Shimla. These varieties were never popular and it was the arrival of Samuel Stokes (who later converted to Hinduism and changed his name to Satyanand) and the American hybrids that accounted for the real transformation.
Himachal offers a new era of nature enjoyment and learning. It also provides visitors an excellent exposure to the temperate forests. This makes it an ideal area for developing eco-tourism activities like jungle safaris, trekking, rock climbing, forest trails, nature walks, angling (esp. golden mahaseer and brown trout), camping etc.. All these activities are to be conducted in a manner that promotes awareness of the environment and helps maintain the ecological balance.
The eco tourism projects being predominantly situated in forest lands are technically under the Forest Deptt. which has already formulated an Eco Tourism policy in consultation with the Tourism Deptt. under this Ecotourism Societies have been established on CBET (Community Based EcoTourism basis) to cover the Great Himalayan National Park (Kullu), Himalayan Nature Park (Shimla), Renuka Wildlife Sanctuary (Sirmour) and Potter’s Hill Van Vihar (Shimla).
The Government will harness the tourism potential of forests in the state by developing camping sites with basic infrastructure facilities and other public convenience services. A nominal fee shall also be determined by the Government for the use of camping site for the maintenance and for the conservation of these forests. The private parties shall be encouraged for setting up of such camping sites on erwerorment friendly basis. The Government will endeavour to open forest rest houses for the tourists through the society. These would be run on community based eco tourism tenets or through public private partnership with companies with good track record of working in Eco – tourism.
Wildlife Tourism is an integral part of Eco Tourism . Himachal Pradesh has a varied topography, climate and forest cover and is endowed with a vast variety of flora and fauna. At present there are 32 Sanctuaries, 2 National Parks and 3 Game Reserves. The sanctuaries include Simbalwara (Sirmour), Churdhar, Chail (Solan), Maharana Pratap Sagar (Kangra) Manali (Kullu), Kanwar (Kullu), Kalatop Khajjiar (Chamba) and Daranghati (Shimla). The National Parks are Pin Valley National Park, Spiti and the Great Himalayan National Park, Kullu; the Nature parks are at Kufri (Shimla), Manali (Kullu) and Gopalpur (Kangra). The Tourism Deptt proposes to work actively with the Wild life Wing of the Forest Deptt to further develop and improve wild life parks/zoos, bird watching towers and other public utility services for the facility of the tourists. A reasonable fee shall be determined by the Government for use of such parks/zoos for its maintenance.
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