>From today's Goan Voice U.K http://www.goanvoice.org.uk/
http://www.bangkokpost.com/Business/11Jul2005_biz65.php Negative side of tourism development IMTIAZ MUQBIL While the world was preoccupied last week with the London bombings, a group of vocal non-governmental organisations in India last week warned that they do not intend to lose sight of a parallel form of terrorism taking place in the Asia-Pacific region. Although the NGOs were focussed on Indian issues, they warned that forests, heritage, wildlife and tribal lands are being terrorised regionwide by an "unholy trinity" of politicians, bureaucrats and investors in the name of economic and tourism development. Convening under the aegis of the Bangalore-based NGO Equations, the grouping of environmentalists, academics, social workers and other activists said that deregulation and privatisation of Indian tourism would extract a huge price on what's left of the country's forest cover, water and other natural resources. The Indian government has embarked upon a tourism marketing campaign under the slogan "Incredible India". But activist Panduranga Hegde of the Appiko Movement said: "We now have an opportunity to see to what extent Incredible India is credible." India's economic liberalisation programme is leading to intense competition among states and transport and hotel sectors to attract both foreign and domestic visitors. Many of the states see their national parks, wildlife reserves and heritage areas as being ideal for ecotourism. Although officials claim to have appropriate policies and regulatory controls to manage ecotourism, the activists say a collusion of corrupt politicians, subservient bureaucrats and greedy investors will make a mockery of these regulations. All three "are colluding to sell off India en masse," said Mr Mathivanan of the Tamil Nadu Environmental Council. "Management of all the natural resources is getting commoditised." Because the forests are rich in mineral resources along with potential for hydropower and tourism, ownership issues have created conflict with the indigenous tribal people, known as adivasis, millions of whom are being displaced while awaiting passage of a tribal rights bill. Said Pradip Prabhu of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity: "Mobs lynch them (the tribals), police harass them and the public chastises them. They are deprived of a dignified life. They are not on the electoral rolls and hence are not paid any attention to by politicians." He said the Indian government issued various regulations to decide who can enter the forest reserves and national parks, but these only further alienate the tribal people because the forests were their source of life. "It is important to understand who came first _ the adivasis or the government of India? Certainly the adivasis, so it is perhaps the government of India who is the encroacher," said Mr Prabhu. Some of most significant concerns are over the future of the tsunami-hit Andaman and Nicobar islands, with activists expressing concern over plans to create a joint marketing campaign with Phuket to feed visitors through there as part of economic recovery efforts. Samir Acharya of the Society for Andaman Ecology pointed out that the islands suffer from a severe fresh water shortage, particularly right before the monsoons. K.G. Mohanlal of Ecotourism Director, Kerala, said that in his state, four water-parks that consume half a million litres of water a day were being developed at a time when people in many parts of India don't have enough clean water to drink. Said Albertina Almeida of Bailan Choosad, Goa: "Tourism needs all kind of infrastructure _ land availability, single window availability (for clearance of bureaucratic permits and procedures). But whose land is going and what price are they getting? It's like having foreign territory on local soil because [locals] have no say in the local areas. "The challenge is for us (NGOs) to puncture the glamour of globalisation and the projections they make about tourism. We need to recognise and expose the other sides of the story." Animal rights activists are also concerned. "Someone should ask the animals whether they want tourists," said J. Manjunath of the Wilderness Club. The NGOs admit they are under-funded, not as well organised as the "unholy trinity", and without access to sophisticated communications and lobbying strategies. Nevertheless, they concluded that they intend to use all the democratic means at their disposal to preserve the forests and defend the rights of the tribal peoples. NGOs are also planning to raise similar issues in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Imtiaz Muqbil is executive editor of Travel Impact Newswire, an e-mailed feature and analysis service focusing on the Asia-Pacific travel industry. -- Cheers, Gabe Menezes. London, England
