Kashmir winter spots struggle with environmental crisis amid rising tourism numbers

KASHMIR: Gulmarg is a ski destination in Indian-administered Kashmir popular with tourists and locals. 

From a distance, the snow-covered plateaus look stunning, but they hide a major problem: Trash.

Caretakers collect more than 2,000kg of litter everyday from hotels, motels and vendors, they told CNA.

It is a result of a rising number of visitors who spend winter there. 

Gulmarg is not the only town in Jammu and Kashmir to suffer from overtourism. Heaps of plastic waste can also be seen in other popular tourist spots like Pahalgam, Sonamarg, Yusmarg, and Doodhpathri.

Records show that about 3 million tourists, including 43,000 foreigners, visited the disputed Himalayan Territory last year, a 9 per cent increase from 2023. 

Tourism contributes an estimated 7 per cent to the region’s gross domestic product (GDP) of around US$28 billion.

“Kashmir is beautiful. To maintain its beauty, locals as well as tourists need to keep the environment (clean). It is because of the clean environment and beauty that people from different regions visit here,” said Ravi Baghel, a tourist from India’s Madhya Pradesh.

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}