Kamala Joshi is a concerned woman. Fifteen years ago, she was the first to venture onto the heights of Rohtang. She was the first to set up a teashop at this (Rohtang pass) great tourist haunt that connects the green Manali valley with the higher reaches of the Zanskar. But the winds of change have been overriding at the mountain passage. With an instant boom in tourism in the last 10 years, today her problems have increased manifold. Competition is fierce as she contends with 50 others to lure tourists into drinking a hot cup of tea. She is forced to deal with a flood of people who couldn't care less for the mountains. The lush meadows on which her cattle would feast are no longer green. Garbage strewn around annoys her the most. The source of drinking water is polluted and unfit for use. Snowfall has decreased. "Everybody is here to make money. Who is bothered about the future? Rohtang is not the same as it was 10 years ago. No wonder, even the tourists have decreased," she frets and fumes over the despoiling of the beautiful landscape. A classic case of overuse and misuse, Rohtang is indicative of the impact on most Himalayan destinations, thanks to unregulated tourism.

The Himalayas, source of life-giving waters and home to gigantic monuments of rock and ice are increasingly becoming vulnerable to the onslaught of travellers seeking escape from cluttered lives, and to demands on natural resources. As more and more people flock the mountains to attain that adrenalin 'high', it brings to the fore a rather disturbing trend. Mountainscapes are being converted into high-altitude Disneylands that exploit mountain cultures with little gain for their inhabitants. Ironically, tourism, which ought to bring laudable economic opportunities to isolated and undeveloped mountain regions, is turning mountains into "the world's highest trash dumps."

Concerned over this rising phenomena of uncontrolled and ill-managed mountain tourism, a global network of people and organisations interested in mountain communities, environments, and sustainable development formed the Mountain Forum in 1995. A cross-continental mandate was given to formulate a management plan for mountains. This culminated with the United Nations General Assembly declaring the year 2002 to be the International Year of Mountains. It wished to evolve a comprehensive strategy to manage and sustain mountain resources worldwide. Aimed to ensure the well-being of mountain and lowland communities by promoting the conservation and sustainable development of mountain regions and lowland communities, it was proposed to evolve a comprehensive global strategy to manage and sustain our mountain resources. The declaration hoped to generate interest and thereby proactive action on part of tourism operators, independent agencies, government concerns and, of course, the tourists themselves.

Going past yet another World Tourism Day (September 27), it becomes pronouncedly evident that India has a long way to go before we are able to carefully manage our mountain resources for tourism. Blessed with the verdant Himalayas (the oldest on the mountain tourism map), lately other natural areas within the country like the North-East, and the culturally diverse Nilgiris have gained tourist appeal. But without a central policy framework in place, the mountain tourism industry is rudderless. At this juncture, it is perhaps worthwhile to stop and reflect on our approach to our mountain resources.

As our tourism industry struggles with the ever-evolving needs of a tourist, surely, innovative forms of tourism have arrived. From heritage tourism and health tourism to beach tourism, the transition to newer forms of tourism is evident. Hence, mountain tourism gains popularity and acceptance as a term simply used to describe any form of tourism activity on the mountains. For people vacationing in these highlands, the lure of the mountains has always been a compelling mystique.

Biomes of varied bio-diversity and a virtual global treasury containing almost one-third of the world's designated protected areas, the mountains have nearly half of humanity dependent on mountain watersheds for their supplies of fresh water. Lately, tourism's impact on mountain ecosystems and biological resources is a cause of concern. Loss of biodiversity has environmental, ethical, health-related, and economic consequences.

Hill people who rely on thousands of years of first-hand experience in living and working in their rugged and awe-inspiring environments share a symbiotic relationship with their natural surroundings. Cultures long secluded by the rugged terrain and isolation is suddenly "object matter" for camera-toting tourists in the era of mountain tourism. The knowledge and skills refined over generations by mountain peoples lose value in the face of high-tech mountain sports and demand for five-star hotel standards. A loss of cultural identity leads to increased social problems of crime, drugs, and the degradation of community values and religious practices that once held society together.

The booming drug menace in Manali speaks volumes of this social impact. "Fifteen years ago, Manali was a different place. People were waking up to curious onlookers from across the world who had trespassed by default as insurgency rose in the neighbouring state of Jammu and Kashmir. Everybody was thrilled, as they were White, brought money, wore fancy clothes, and spoke an alien language" says Roopu Negi, one of the pioneers of adventure tourism in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh. But the enthusiasm doesn't seem to have sustained; for it has spelt doomsday. As Negi elaborates, "Without a proper infrastructure to handle the sudden change, all hell broke loose. Tourism has no doubt created jobs, increased per capita income of the town dwellers, but it has had a damaging social impact. Youth are going astray, taking to drugs, and ruining their lives. It makes me think, tourism at what cost?" Negi heads the oldest adventure tourism organisation in Manali called Himalayan Adventurers, which has successfully introduced ecologically and culturally sensitive and sustainable tourism in the area.

The Himalayas undeniably are one of the oldest mountain areas, which have haunted tourists for long. The hill states, primarily Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and parts of J&K, survive on tourism-dependent economies. Abuse of the natural landscape is evident and it is alarmingly high at some of the most famous tourist destinations like Shimla, Manali, and Mussorie.

Trash strewn around indiscriminately; trek trails magnified into full-fledged pathways, thanks to a flood of tourists using the same — all these signs are indicative of unhealthy tourism.

One of the main reasons for the extensive damage done to mountains, as Kamala Joshi correctly pointed out, is mass tourism. The splendour of the mountains is not renewable. Gone are the days when remoteness and inaccessibility guaranteed protection to mountain areas. Hundreds of mountaineers and local staff attempt to climb the Mt. Everest in a single day. Termed the world's highest garbage dump, the Everest area pronounces that unrestrained and unregulated growth is a looming hazard. This has begun to cost us environmentally, socially and culturally.

With such a heavy price to pay, it is perhaps time policy-makers finally consider regulating the number of tourists frequenting a particular area. The Mustang valley, a remote enclave of Tibetan and Buddhist culture in northern Nepal, is perfect example of regulated tourism. The only backward part of Nepal, unconnected even by road, has been open to controlled tourism for the last five years. Because Mustang is fragile, both ecologically and culturally, the Nepalese government limits the number of tourists to a thousand a year. The treks are usually organised by licensed agencies in Kathmandu. The visitors carry all their supplies, so there's no need to buy food locally. And since this system deprives the locals of financial benefits of tourism, Mustang receives 60 per cent of the fee ($70 a day) each trekker pays to the Nepalese government. Our mountain terrains across Himachal, Sikkim, Uttaranchal might do well with similar regulation.

Mustang also highlights the community aspect of tourism. Local communities undoubtedly have primary right over their natural resources.

Chapter 13 of Agenda 21 drafted on the International Year of Mountains states, "The fate of the mountains may effect more than half of the world's population and particular attention should be paid to mountain resources, especially water and biodiversity."

While in India we are being forced to wake up to the call of the mountains, only time will tell how well we've been able to manage our mountain resources. With so many examples to prove that something drastically needs to be done to set right the damage in our mountain areas, one gets the feeling that our decision-makers have failed to understand a valuable link. It points to a lack of policy, which clarifies on the dos and don'ts for mountain tourism. It also brings to the fore an issue that plagues the tourism sector at large — there seems to very little clarity on part of even the government machinery as they promote tourism in a big way. And this can have disastrous consequences.

All said and done, the mountains have lured tourists since time immemorial. While tourism is tipped to be the fastest growing industry in the world, the revenue raked in by mountain tourism accounts for 15 – 20 per cent of the total worldwide tourism revenue. By the year 2010, the World Tourism Organisation predicts that there will be one billion international tourists taking to the mountains in different parts of the world and more than $1,500 billion generated in revenue.