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ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION-RISK TO HUMAN SURVIVAL 47
Environment and Tourism
Tourism today represents around six per cent of the world trade and almost 13 per cent of the total consumer spending. The economic significance of these two factors cannot be contradicted. All discussions on environmental issues and tourism have to take into account these two realities which cannot be ignored. We have to take the realistic aspect of this into account. Tourism is an industry that has its pros and cons, its profits and losses in terms of money and environment both. It depends greatly on the actual socio-cultural environment and an unspoilt natural environment.
An environment-friendly tourism should be such that it preserves the beauty of the lakes, rivers, islands, mountains, historical monuments, wild-life etc. And at the same time a tourist should be able to enjoy it fully and mentally distance himself from his busy hectic life and be able to relax in peaceful surroundings. As tourists we should be able to see the beauties of nature, admire them and should not think of possessing them or acquiring them, keeping in mind that we have a long chain of such admirers to follow us. We should not also try to carry our city comforts to the places of natural beauty or a heritage monument. Tourists should learn to leave these comforts behind. In this area tourism education is a must.
Unrestrained construction activity and commercialisation has eroded the stability of our coastline, interference with natural sand-dunes undermines the eco-system of the entire region thus environment controls on tourism and development projects in India are necessary. Such checks, can trace their roots to a letter written by Mrs. Indira Gandhi to the State Chief Ministers, directing them to prevent constructions beyond a certain point in the coastal areas, so that the area does not suffer environmental degradation. Hotel construction, energy consumption, water consumption and all such things require great caution and alertness. This does not mean that tourism should be discouraged or that there should be a complete embargo on adventure tourism; it only means caution against misuse. On the contrary, tourism should be encouraged, since,
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