| ECOTOURISM POTENTIAL OF CHENANI TEHSIL, DISTT. UDHAMPUR (J&K) | | |
Dr. Pragya Khanna
“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” – Saint Augustine.
It is well known that travel is good for your physical wellbeing, but a significant amount of scientific research suggests that exploring a new place can do wonders for your mental and emotional health as well. It is mostly agreed that taking a break from the daily hustle and bustle is essential for your mind to relax, recharge and rejuvenate.
When we reflect on the joys that come with the quests of traveling, we often envision exciting trips to beautiful places fit for a perfect photograph, unique foods you won’t find at home and encounters with people who are much different from those we are familiar to.
Tourism allows us to do more than just learn details about various locations. It allows us to engage ourselves into the cultures and lifestyles of others and leaves lasting impressions that aren’t likely to be forgotten.
A segment of tourism industry is eco-tourism, where travellers not only discover new experiences, but do so with utmost respect for the environment and understanding the needs of the people local to the area so that their quality of life can also be improved. It also involves learning about the history, traditions, culture of the place and preserving historical landmarks and biodiversity. Local communities, especially those that do not thrive by industrial means, benefit greatly from tourists who respect their lands while providing additional funding.
Since my posting as Principal, Govt. Degree College, Chenani, I have always longed to see the places around and explore the tourism potential of the place; unlike the hum of city traffic and business of urban life, the atmosphere of a small town is slower, quieter and more personal. There are fewer choices in this small town (notwithstanding the current lockdown condition), yet there happens to be a lot to live life to its full potential.
While working on the idea of starting a Signature Skill Course in Ecotourism for my college, as envisaged by the Dept. of Higher Education, J&K Govt., I happened to do a little research and reconnoitred certain areas and happened to witness the stunning mountain peaks, lush greenery, gorges, flowing streams of clean water, rich biodiversity, opulent cultural heritage of old monuments, temples, bowlis coupled with the cool and calm breeze adding divine essence to lovely mornings and peaceful evenings.
The entire Chenani tehsil, with its adjoining areas, surrounded by dense woods, colourful huts located on lush green slopes is considered one of the best tourist sports in the Udhampur district, J&K. The entire area has been divided into broad zones (or sub-circuits), by the Dept .of Tourism, Govt. of J&K, based on physical propinquity, accessibility and approach.
The major area of significance in these zones is the picturesque Kud-Patnitop-Sansar circuit that has gained admiration as a popular summer hill resort. Attractive sunny slopes, full grown pine and deodar forests, existing urban set-up and high degree of accessibility, with Batote in the neighbourhood, this is a much desired area for summer tourists.
The places like Gaurikund, Sudh Mahadev and Mantalai are the mystic locations with the legends of Shiva and Parvati associated with ages old temples of great significance.
The ancient sites believed to be more than 3000 years old, are adorned by nature’s charm and spiritual embodiment where art and architecture is plentiful. The places are full of mystical enigma and are considered as a must-visit destinations for some to move into state of trance or to accomplish deliverance. Further, a jaunt through the woods to Naina Devi, 5 Kms from Mantalai provides an outstanding view of the mountainous backdrop all round. Besides these, there are various other places of religious importance in the vicinity that I heard about from the local residents, including Buddi Shuddi Gaukaran, Vaini Sangam, Dashala, Hardwar, Budda Kedar, etc. However, it was disheartening to note that many of these places are still not connected with proper road network and only those having undeterred religious belief and extraordinary perseverance manage to reach these sites.
Dudu-Basantgarh is about 75 kms from Chenani National high way towards east. The entire area of Dudu-Basantgarh is hilly and covered with thick lush green forest and beautiful valleys. These places are presently not well accessible by vehicles. The poor road connectivity, rural set-up, dearth of substructure and difficult terrain are the reasons for people migrating out of these areas for better prospects. Though, astounding water falls, rivers, woods, small hills and natural bridges have the potential to make these areas as favourite tourist destinations. Despite all odds, there is tremendous scope of adventure tourism and winter sports at Basantgarh and its surrounding locations like Punara, Khaned, Loundhra, Barli, Kadwah, Lalaon, Chochru gali. Dudu, with an ancient temple of Vasuki Naag, is a beautiful valley with potential for religious tourism.
Another place called Latti, in the same belt, has a lot of tourism worth in unexplored beautiful places like Jakhed, Kanda Top, Kaond Top, Dehra Top and other places.
Seoj Dhar, about 30 kms from Dudu Sub-division, in Bhaderwah, is the place from where river Tawi (Suryaputri) is said to originate. The place is said to be very rich in Biodiversity including medicinal herbs. As per the records, the river Tawi originates mainly at Kalplas Kund, also known as Kala Kund at Seoj Dhar in Bhadarwah region of Doda district, from where it slopes to Sudh Mahadeva. It then turns northwest towards Chenani for about 42 kms. In this part the river fluffs and fuzzes along the large boulders making musical sounds. From Chenani it then turns south-westward for a distance of about 20-25 kms and moves towards Jinganu where it once again flip-flops through a hilly range to reach Jindrah. The river then passes through another range of hills to enter Nagrota, thereby arriving at Jammu. Once out of the hills of Jammu it heads on to enter into the mighty river Chenab and finally enters Pakistan.
Ramgarh is another small town on the Mansa Devi Nallah, a tributary of the river Tawi surrounded by gorgeous hills and Seoj glaciers around 30 kms from Udhampur-Dhar road. A number of beautiful locations, temples and shrines are located on the way to this area depicting its rich cultural heritage.
The major tourism circuits identified by the Dept. of Tourism around Chenani include Kud-Mada-Patnitop; Patnitop-Nathatop-Sanasar; Patnitop-Sanjote-Sudhmahadev-Mantalai; Mantalai-Dudu-Seoj; Latti-Dudu-Basantgarh; Basantgarh-Ramnagar-Dalsar and so on.
Incidence of places of outstanding scenic beauty as well as of high religious importance makes Chenani and its adjoining areas amply suitable for a wide variety of tourism activities like leisure, adventure, holidaying, pilgrimage etc. Development of ecotourism in this area shall ensure socio-economic development of local communities while also conserving its biodiversity. Ecotourism or tourism in a sustainable manner can potentially enhance the livelihood of local people, particularly those living in and around ecologically fragile areas and, as a result, also provide local people an incentive to conserve these areas which will have great implications.
The key elements of ecotourism, if followed objectively, can actually help in the conservation of wildlife, natural vegetation, monuments, cultural heritage and aid in the social and economic growth of the local communities while providing excellent opportunities for travelling and exploring to others.
The logic behind starting a Signature Skill Course in Tourism/Ecotourism at Govt. Degree College, Chenani is to provide the basic understanding of tourism industry and knowledge of current trends in Ecotourism to the local students so that they develop entrepreneurship skills for various occupations in the sector; are able to interpret and evaluate ecotourism as a phenomenon and as a business system; plan, lead, organize and control resources for effective and efficient ecotourism operations; are able to create, apply, and evaluate the marketing strategies for tourism destinations and organization. In my opinion there can be no other place as suitable as this for the purpose.
With ecological awareness fast becoming an integral aspect of our existence, ecotourism that conserves the environment and improves the welfare of the local people shall soon be the top-most industry to provide leisure, adventure, spirituality, conservation, all inside one package.
The environment is where we all meet; where all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share. ~ Lady Bird Johnson |
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