Rural Tourism and Infrastructure Development in Uttrakhad, India- An Innovation for Promotion of Tourism

Abstract

This paper reflects about Rural Tourism Planning and infrastructure development in remote areas of Uttrakhnad. The intended objectives of rural tourism is to control rural migration, create new livelihood option for the villagers, and Conservation & Restoration of the Temple precincts when integrated with other facilities like the approach road and sanitation and services as part of the concerned subproject proposal, is to develop this area as an attractive destination for cultural and rural tourism. Under this Project, thrust would be to promote village tourism as the primary tourism product to spread tourism and its socio-economic benefits to rural and new geographic regions. Key geographic regions have been identified for development and promotion of Rural Tourism. The implementation has been done through a Convergence Committee headed by the District Magistrate. The activities like improving the natural environment, hygiene, socio-economic status, infrastructure etc. would be great help for foreign and domestic tourist.

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

Rural Tourism is bustle that takes place in non-urban areas that showcases the art, culture, heritage and native life at the rural locations. Activities in which the visitors experience a wide range of products and services linked to nature and agriculture like farming, fishery, craft and various aspects of rural lifestyle. Rural tourism activities focuses on rural areas with low population density, landscape and land use dominated by agriculture, forestry, traditional and social structure, rural lifestyle, heritage, nature etc. India’s large part is rural and a large population resides in rural areas. The village life in India is where you meet the real India. So, the Rural tourism has a high potential to stimulate rural India’s economic growth and also social change, because of its complementarity with other activities like, creation and retention of jobs, creation of new business opportunities, revitalization of local art and crafts being aligned with the vision of “Atmanirbhar Bharat” and also with the mantra of “Vocal for Local”.

II. ABOUT UTTARAKHAND

The State of Uttarakhand lies in the northern part of the India and shares international border with China. This physiographic situation attaches strategic importance to the region as well as the infrastructural development in the state. Uttarakhand has a total area of 51,125 km², of which 93% is mountainous and 64% is covered by forest. Most of the northern part of the state is covered by high Himalayan peaks and glaciers, while the lower foothills were densely forested till logged by British log merchants and, after independence, by forest contractors. The native people of Uttarakhand are generally called either Garhwali or Kumaoni depending on their place of origin in either the Kumaon or Garhwal region. According to the 2011 census of India, Uttarakhand has a population of 10,116,752 comprising 5,154,178 males and 4,962,574 females, with 69.45% of the population living in rural areas. The state is the 20th most populous state of the country having 0.84% of the population on 1.69% of the land. The population density of the state is 189 people per square kilometer having a 2001–2011 decadal growth rate of 19.17%. The gender ratio is 963 females per 1000 males. The crude birth rate in the state is 18.6 with the total fertility rate being 2.3. The state has an infant mortality rate of 43, a maternal mortality rate of 188 and a crude death rate of 6.6.

Uttarakhand has a multiethnic population spread across two geo-cultural regions: the Garhwal, and the Kumaon. A large portion of the population is Rajput (various clans of landowning rulers and their descendants)—including members of the native Garhwali, Gujjar, and Kumaoni communities, as well as a number of immigrants. Approximately one-fifth of the population belongs to the Scheduled Castes (an official term for the lower castes in the traditional Hindu caste system). Scheduled Tribes (an official term for natives outside the Indian social system), such as the Raji, who live near the border with Nepal, constitute less than 5 percent of the population. More than four-fifths of Uttarakhand’s residents are Hindus. Uttarakhand comprise of Hindus 86.6%, Muslims 11.8%(Mostly concentrated in plains areas of Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital District), Sikhs 2.3% (Mostly in Udham Singh Nagar District, also called "Mini Punjab") Christians 1.5% and Others including Buddhist, Jains, Parsees comprise a total of 0.8% out of total population. According to a 2007 study, Uttarakhand has the highest percentage of Brahmins of any state in India, with approximately 20% of the population being Brahmin. Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, and Jains make up the remaining population with the Muslims being the largest minority.

III. PROJECT GOALS

Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in Uttarakhand. According to statistics maintained by the Tourism Board, the estimated tourist visits in Uttarakhand during 2006 were about 18.99 million by domestic tourists and 0.1 million by foreign tourists. Though these estimates have the inherent problems of non-uniform coverage and aggregation of non-comparable sources, these estimates can be considered as indicative of the existing dimensions of tourist visits in the State. The annual rate of growth of domestic tourist visits in Uttarakhand during the period 2001 to 2006 was 12.9 percent as against 14.5 percent in the case of all India estimates. Similarly in the case of foreign tourists, the growth rate achieved by was 12.0 percent as against 16.0 percent for the country as a whole. Uttarakhand has to thus improve its growth rates both in domestic and foreign tourist visits if it has to retain even its current share. The target growth rates would be the current national growth rates for the next five years and thereafter the long term all India growth rates of 13 percent and 12 percent in domestic and foreign tourist visits respectively.

The tourism industry is a major contributor to the economy of Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand has many tourist spots due to its location in the Himalayas. There are many ancient temples, forest reserves, national parks, hill stations, and mountain peaks that draw large number of tourists. There are 44 nationally protected archaeological monuments in the state. Gangotri (in Gomukh) and Yamunotri, the origins of the Ganga and Yamuna, respectively, fall in the upper reaches of the state and together with Badrinath (dedicated to Lord Vishnu) and Kedarnath (dedicated to Lord Shiva).Haridwar, meaning "Gateway to God", is a prime Hindu destination. Uttarakhand is, however, a place of pilgrimage not only for the Hindus. Hemkund, nested in the Himalayas, is a prime pilgrimage center for the Sikhs. Tibetan Buddhism has also made itself felt with the reconstruction of Mindroling Monastery and its Buddha Stupa. Some of the most famous hill stations in India are in Uttarakhand such as Mussoorie, Nainital, Dhanaulti, Lansdowne, Sattal, Almora, Kausani, Bhimtal, and Ranikhet. The state has 12 National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries which cover 13.8 percent of the total area of the state. They are located at different altitudes varying from 800 to 5400 meters. The oldest national park on the Indian sub-continent, Jim Corbett National Park, is a major tourist attraction. In addition the state boasts Valley of Flowers National Park and Nanda Devi National Park in Chamoli District, which together are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Vasudhara Falls, near Badrinath is a waterfall with a height of 122 metres set against a backdrop of snow-clad mountains. Due to its proximity to the Himalaya ranges, there is a plethora of hills and mountains and is suitable for adventure tourisms, trekking, climbing, skiing, camping, rock climbing, and paragliding.

According to the statistics available, the share of Uttarakhand to the total tourist in India (domestic tourist) has increased during the past few years, while in case of foreign tourist, the growth is almost stagnant. It has also been observed that the tourist inflow in the state, both domestic and foreign, has shown a significant increase in the past 2-3 years. Table 1 shows the Domestic and Foreign tourist arrival in Uttarakhand vis-à-vis in the country in the years 2008, 2009, and 2010.

Table 1: Tourist arrival in the Country and the State of Uttarakhand

IV. NEED OF THE PROJECT

Tourism is seen to provide one of the main additional sources of livelihood in the State. Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure, or business purpose. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes". Living outside usual environment means need of guidance.

Tourism growth potential can be harnessed as a strategy for Rural Development. The development of a strong platform around the concept of rural tourism is definitely useful for a country like India, where almost 74% of the population resides in its 7 million villages.

Across the world the trends of industrialization and development have had an urban centric approach. Alongside, the stresses of urban lifestyles have led to a “counter-urbanization” syndrome. This has led to growing interest in the rural areas. At the same time this trend of urbanization has led to falling income levels, lesser job opportunities in the rural areas leading to desertion of villages. Rural Tourism is one of the few activities which can provide a solution to these problems.

Besides, there are other factors which are shifting the trend towards rural tourism like increasing levels of awareness, growing interest in heritage and culture and improved accessibility, and environmental consciousness. In the developed countries, this has resulted in a new style of tourism of visiting villages settings to experience and live a relaxed and healthy lifestyle. This concept has taken the shape of a Rural Tourism Product.

Under this Project, thrust would be given to promote village tourism as the primary tourism product to spread tourism and its socio-economic benefits to rural and new geographic regions. Key geographic regions would be identified for development and promotion of Rural Tourism. The implementation would be done through a Convergence Committee headed by the District Magistrate. Activities like improving the natural environment, hygiene, socio-economic status, infrastructure etc. would be eligible for assistance.

V. LOCAL COMMUNITIES FOR PROMOTION OF RURAL TOURISM

Following are major eligibility criteria for the promotion of Rural Tourism in Uttrakhand:

1. Culturally Very Rich: The culture of a place depends upon its inhabitants, environment and its heritage. Uttarakhand has all the things in abundance. In fact, it has everything that any tourist could want. The most significant donor for giving mass appeal to tourism in Uttaranchal is the state’s rich culture, an excellent intermingling of exoticism as well as the way of life. Frequently thought-out to be the belt of Hindu culture, the Uttaranchal’s culture is beyond doubt one of the most vital tourist attractions of Uttaranchal.
2. Traditional Skill in weaving and Handicrafts: The state of Uttarakhand has a rich tradition of various arts and crafts like painting, wood carving, jewelry making, weaving of woolens, candle making, decorative temples and of course performing arts like music and dance. Their inspiration was obviously the lush green surroundings, the turquoise sky and the snow filled mountains which could make anyone poetic. The tranquil environs form a base for a treasure-house of artistically inclined people.
3. Ayurveda Products: Uttarakhand  the  28th state of India is also known as herbal state due to the rich potential of herbs found in it.  Uttarakhand state has traditional acceptability of Ayurvedic system of medicine. Besides being the science of life, it is the herbs which give recognition to the Indian system of medicine. Herbs having their natural origin in Uttarakhand are more effective and are free from side effects if used in a proper method. Uttarakhand is endowed to give Eco friendly treatment to people traditionally using Ayurvedic drugs. This is a state that has established models of Ayushgram  i.e. integrated Holistic  centers designed to serve health needs of people according to  every system of AYUSH i.e Ayurveda, Yoga,  Unani, Siddha and  Homeopathy and that at one place. Uttarakhand is a state that has ample potential of tourist attractions. Just living in the hilly regions of forest land of Uttarakhand is itself a part of treatment.
4. Gender Issues: Uttarakhand stands out as one of the few states in India where the participation rate of women in the economy of the state is higher and women have always been a part of active workforce, as women are contributing upto 90 per cent of the total work involvement with agriculture, forest production, cattle care and dairying. Integrating gender perspectives into the rural tourism is particularly important as it offers various opportunities for independent income generating activities for women, and induces positive impacts on women’s lives in destination communities. Development of the handicraft industry should form an important part of strategic planning for community participation in tourism, especially the participation of women.

VI. OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT

The intended objectives of rural tourism are to control rural migration, create new livelihood option for the villagers, and Conservation & Restoration of the Temple precincts when integrated with other facilities like the approach road and sanitation and services as part of the concerned subproject proposal, is to develop this area as an attractive destination for cultural and rural tourism.

The objective of this project is to

1. Enhanced quality of natural and cultural tourist attractions;
2. Improved basic infrastructure and services at tourist destinations;
3. Strengthened capacity of concerned sector agencies and local communities for planning,  development, management and marketing of tourist destinations and attractions;
4. Enhanced capacity to promote local communities to participate and small businesses at    the destination points.
5. To make alternative livelihood option for rural population and control migration
6. Enhance the Values if the adjacent historic village landscape;
7.  Preservation and conservation of both the Monument and the cultural landscape of the historic site.

VII. PROJECT AREA

The project area falls under three districts of Uttrakhand such as Rudrapraya, chamoli, and Uttrakashi. All the three districts are under Gadrwal region. The table-2 shows the district and block wise location of Rural Tourism Centers. As against conventional tourism, rural tourism has certain typical characteristics like: it is experience oriented, the locations are sparsely populated, it is predominantly in natural environment, it meshes with seasonality and local events and is based on preservation of culture, heritage and traditions.

VIII. PROJECT COMPONENT

Preserving the temple structure and upgrading the facilities to world class standards will ensure increase in the number of tourists. Thus investing in the tourism industry of the region will help in generating more revenue on the other side. Apart from the restoration projects, the component of the project that deals with the upgrading of tourist facilities in all 9 rural tourism centers. Appropriate re-designing and planning is required to retain the heritage of the temple complexes, along with accommodation for new spatial requirements of the increasing numbers of visitors. These sites are important to be developed for the following reasons;

1. Currently facing lack of world-class infrastructure.
2. Need to create more economically vibrant and environmentally sustainable area.
3. At present un- managed and non- clean site.
4. To bring the destination on world map as World's most popular destinations
5. To Strengthen our cultural significance
6. Enhance quality of life and environment.
7. Promote tourism in the rural areas
8. Create awareness among the locals, Indians and foreigners

The proposed sub component has both hardware and software activities. In following Table-3 both hard ware and software for site specific are given.

Table- 3 Site wise Software Activities

IX. IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE

The project would be implemented by the Design and Construction Supervision Agency- Dehradun. Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board plans to implement the project in 24 months. The project would be implemented by the Program Implementation Units (PIU) Dehradun/local NGOs for software activity, under direct administrative and financial control of Program Monitoring Unit (PMU) which will be the Implementing Agency. The DSC-Dehradun would assist PIUs in implementation and PMC will assist PMU on overall project management. Design Supervision Consultant-Dehradun shall be responsible for detailed designing and supervision of the sub projects.

X. RISKS & ASSUMPTIONS

There are no risks as such for Rural Tourism. It is also assumed that with better infrastructure at the base settlements and approach areas would be an impetus for overall improvement in the health and hygiene of the people. The visitors would be encouraged to spend time in the places with the available Upgradation that is being proposed. This in turn would help in appropriate revenue generation at the village and district level at large.

XI. OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE (SUSTAINABILITY)

O&M of Rural Tourism villages is proposed through village level committee to be named as “Village Tourist Development committee”.  This committee may consist of 10 to 15 members with different responsibilities. 6 to 8 members will be Ladies.

The members name & responsibility can be as below:

1. President
2. Secretary
3. Cashier/Accountant
4. Home stay Owners
5. Local Custom & Welcome Member
6. Coordinator/Manager
7. Business promotion person
8. Representative from local administration
9. Others –villagers, immediate past president etc

The approach is to strengthen villages & village committees and operation & maintenance would be handed over to the committee. The Proposed Tariff distribution to different stakeholders for sustainability of the project is as follows. 

a. 15% of the total income goes to Village Tourist Development Committee for the sustainability

b. 2% to Gram Panchayat for village development

c. 83% community members (home stay rent, food provider fee, Guide fee)

XII. ASSET OWNER AFTER COMPLETION

Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board Dehradun (UTDB) would be the asset owner after completion of construction of the project. The Home stay arrangement would be manage by concern village Tourist Committee to be constituted by NGO. The major amount (Say 83%) of the revenue of the home stay would go to house owner/stakeholders and Rest (Say 15%+3 %) would go in to Tourist Committee account and village Panchayat . It is proposal of DSC which must be discussed in detail within PMU, PIU and PMC and then final decision should be taken.

XIII. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The author is thankful to Govt of Uttarakhand, IDPTI and ADB for financial support to implement the project. Also thankful to IDPTI and contractor staff for implementing the project within stipulated time period. The project was completed on the year 2019.

Conclusion

Social, cultural, economic & environmental significance of the historic structures and places is immeasurable simply because of the fact that it has been evident to the development and changes that the living society experiences throughout its growth. Any form of tourism that showcases the rural life, art, culture and heritage at rural locations, thereby benefiting the local community economically and socially as well as enabling interaction between the tourists and the locals for a more enriching tourism experience can be termed as rural tourism. Rural tourism is essentially an activity which takes place in the countryside. It is multi-faceted and may entail farm/agricultural tourism, cultural tourism, nature tourism, adventure tourism, and ecotourism. As against conventional tourism, rural tourism has certain typical characteristics like: it is experience oriented, the locations are sparsely populated, it is predominantly in natural environment, it meshes with seasonality and local events and is based on preservation of culture, heritage and traditions.

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Copyright

Copyright © 2024 Mr. Ranjan Kumar Mallick, Mr. Rajesh Kumar Joshi . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.