ANJANER:CALL FOR A NEW MODEL IN TOURISM
The
hills of Anjaner, located nearly 40 km South West of Nashik are known to some
because of the legend of Hanuman, who is supposed to have been born here.
Except this knowledge, any further development from the point of view of
tourism was non-existent. Only recently, the district plan of Nashik included
some allocation for social afforestation and a road to the place and the idea
of developing the spot as a tourist centre started gathering momentum. A
tourist center, as in recent times this activity is looked upon as a money
spinner!
My mind went back to three experiences in the past, which
also represent certain philosophies - - certain set patterns of thinking. Once
I visited Costa-Del-Sol, i.e. the coast of the Sun, which is a famous tourist
spot, recently developed in Spain. This is a 50 km. long sunny beach adjoining
the deep blue Mediterranean complex, bars, casino, call-girls, rented
apartments, eating-joints, Essel-World-type amusement parks for children. You
could also add water sports. One Spanish scholar explained to me what tourism
is : You attract the attention of people through some ploy. Then earn money (
in foreign exchange) by providing accommodation, food, casinos, parks, and the
like. Your job is to see that his purse becomes light, and your earnings are
good. We have this beautiful sunny patch of a sea beach to offer to attract
people. You may use Ajanta & Ellora. This may be a little rude shock
to a typical Indian psyche, but that is the trend all over the world.
Later
I heard Sunderlal Bahuguna explaining his opposition to the Tehri dam. Among
other things, the Government is lured by the prospect of tourism development in
both the Garhwals—Tehri and Kumaun. So his point was that very soon the mountains
of the Himalayas will shine not because of the ice-capped peaks, but because of
the bottles of beer and rum littered on the Himalayas.
Add
this to the experience of Sinhagad fort. Nothing could be more sacrosanct to
those Maharastrians who are steeped in the pride of Shivaji and his warrior
friends and followers. A road wad therefore constructed to take the people
right to the top of the fort. And lo and behold! People drive to the top of the
fort in comfort and luxury. Then they start on a drinking spree accompanied by
loud music and thus enjoy the Nature as well as the Spirit of Adventure. Is it
all a money spinner? Yes. Land costs around Singhagad have shot up with the
prospects of hotels and resorts all along the road. Government also has a prospect
of subsidizing five-star hotels along this trek. Once I questioned a friend why
not encourage, support, or subsidize local small scale vendors! He explained
that the Budget was the constraint! In the sense that for small-scale vendors
& local entrepreneurs one can spend only a small budget, and then the
performance appraisal of the concerned officer which is measured by the amount
of money he spent will go haywire.
The
committee for the development of the Anjaner—which consists of senior officers
as well as the local organizations –has decided on a different line of
thinking. The main hill having the Anjani Mata temple and the birthplace of
Hanuman is at a height of 4350 feet—which is only 150 ft. less than the height
of Mahabaleshwar. There will be four stages in the total climb. The first ends
at the village site itself and will be motorable. A number of lakes and small
temples are seen along this road. The second stage is also motorable and at the
end of this patch a parking area along with some sports—especially adventurous
ones like gliding etc. can be developed. The third stretch has to be climbed on
foot from one side but a rope-way can also be developed from the other. This
ends on a huge plain land having a perennial lake with a beautiful view of the
surrounding mountain cliffs as well as an excellent view of the sunrise and
sunset. In the British era, the collector of Nashik used to have his summer
residence at this place. The last stretch leading to the historic birthplace of
Hanuman will also have to be climbed up.
On
foot there are three-four guiding thoughts behind this effort. The foremost
objective is to make the whole stretch a little easy to climb and thereby
attract more pilgrims who come to the nearby Triambakeshwar village, but not all
have the courage, time or stamina to climb up the Anjaner. So make it easy! But
not too easy. After all, Hanuman is a deity of strength—although also described
as a highly intellectual person, a learned musician, a doer and devotee.
It
is also sought to enlist the people’s contribution in terms of labour, or seva,
to the achieve afforestation on the hill-top. This really depends on the
ingenuity as well as sensitisation of our forest officials—can they organize
themselves in such a way that all the seva offered by the devotees will be used
to the maximum? This would have been much simpler for a private organization to
handle but not for a government department. The third guiding thought is from
the point of view of the students and the young generation. The site should
provide them a trek to test their stamina. Marathon races and courses on
roap-climbing, trekking. Hang-gliding, rock climbing etc should be continuously
organised. It should get them
interested in flora & fauna and the geological structure of the place. This
should demonstrate to them some water-conservation techniques. As one reaches
the top, one gets a view of Nashik district and the surrounding Konkan. The
students should be able to learn the geography of the district from this view provided
from the top of the mountain. There is also scope for fine arts and artists
like painters, sculptors, poets, and writers to draw inspiration from the
mountains all around and also from the innumerable legends of olden days!
A major scheme
will also be necessary for water-conservation all over the mountain—followed by
a scheme of greening the mountain. Today all of them are barren with no soil or
grass cover. Infact, satellite pictures rate this patch as one of the barrenest
in the whole of India. If all the meetings and deliberations on tourism
development on Anjaner achieves only one objective – that of greening this
mountain—a major success story will be made.
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