Wildlife,DEEP DIVE By Nivedita KhandekarNew Delhi, July 17 (IANS) Little

Amarnath tragedy exposes limited holding capacity of fragile Himalayan ecosystem #IndiaNEWS #Science /Technology,Environment/Wildlife,DEEP DIVE
By Nivedita KhandekarNew Delhi, July 17 (IANS) Little more than a week after the tragic death of 16 pilgrims near the holy cave shrine of Amarnath on July 8, hundreds of devotees continue to trudge up the arduous treks from Pahalgam and Baltal side fighting their fears and inclement weather.
In fact, over 1. 64 lakh yatris have so far performed the ongoing Amarnath yatra as of Saturday with or without being distracted by the tragedy that saw scores of pilgrims being washed away by or buried under a mud and sludge slide from a stream next to the cave as a result of massive rainfall on a hill behind the cave.
In the next two immediate days, much of the talk revolved around disaster management and incorrect weather predictions and the lacunae thereof. However, there was hardly any talk about restricting the number of pilgrims into the high altitude pilgrimage destinations such as Amarnath Cave shrine (Approximately 14,000 feet).
Fragile Himalayan destination
The holy cave shrine is situated at about 14,000 feet (3,888 metres) in the Kashmir Himalayas. The holy cave houses an ice stalagmite, symbolic of a Shiv Ling, while outside is a region pristine and home to glaciers and multiple snow-clad peaks. In fact, pilgrims need to cross snow tracks while in the last 5-6 kms stretch leading to the cave.
Environmentalists have time and again demanded a restriction on the numbers that visit such high altitude areas from where big and small glaciers and streams originate. But, not just Amarnath but scores of other destinations are witnessing large turnout of devotees with the government hardly making a move to consider the carrying capacity of the place.
Prior monitoring of carrying capacity in terms of tourist inflow of vehicles, air quality and solid waste management largely in the Kashmir region for pilgrims visiting Shri Amarnath Ji holy cave and Mata Vaishnav Devi in Jammu need to be done to ensure quality tourism in the state (sic), was one of the prominent recommendations of a recent report Environmental Assessment of Tourism in the Indian Himalayan Region prepared by the Environment Ministry.
It is not that this cannot be done. A small yet most significant stretch beyond Gangotri town leading to the Gaumukh glacier is part of the Gangotri National Park. Since 2006, the number of persons crossing the Forest Department barrier beyond Gangotri pilgrim town has been restricted to 150 and that has worked wonders for the landscape violated by masses before it.
Amarnath had witnessed a similar but larger scale natural disaster in 1996. That time similar debates and questions were raised but soon forgotten.
Uttarakhand devastation in 2013 is a much recent example.

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