The Uttarakhand forest Department has collected the maximum amount so far in revenue from the arrival of visitors to the valley of flowers in the State. Falling under the purview of the Nanda Devi national park, the valley of flowers — which is scheduled to be closed to public at the end of this month — has attracted a considerable number of visitors both from India and various foreign countries.
Officials state that the rise in revenue generation which has been registered at
Rs 16, 76,335 is the highest recorded revenue so far by the department from the valley of flowers.
According to official sources, the highest revenue amount generated this year broke the previous record of high revenue generation set about five years ago.
It is also being reported that since the June 2013 disaster, this year is the first occasion wherein a considerably high number of both foreigner and domestic tourist arrivals have been recorded in this world famous valley.
According to information provided by sources, since the reopening of the Bhyundar—popularly known as the valley of flowers national park—for visitors on June 1 this year, the record number of footfall has given the department considerable relief at a time when it continues to face the challenge of rising human-wildlife conflict due to various factors with little success.
Since the start of tourist season this year, a total of 9,616 visitors— both foreigners and domestic tourists—have visited this enchanting valley.
It is also being stated that since this valley was officially opened for tourists by the authorities, this is the first known instance of record-breaking revenue generation by Nanda Devi National park authorities through the valley.
It is pertinent to mention here that, the Bhyundar valley has been known to the natives of this region in Garhwal and select spiritual seekers and few others for a long time.
The inaccessibility due to geographical factors and local beliefs of the people had for long kept this valley protected from damaging exploitation.
During 1931 when British mountaineer, botanist and author Frank Smythe and his group of British mountaineers returning from an expedition to mount Kamet in the Garhwal Himalayas, lost their way and happened to reach the valley mesmerising and enchanting them with the hundreds of types of flowers in bloom creating a picture of other-worldly beauty.
It was after Smythe authored the book ‘Valley of Flowers’ later during 1939 that this valley started attracting international attention.
It should be mentioned here that a botanist deputed by the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India, professor Chandra Prakash Kala had undertaken a research study on the floristic aspects and the conservation of this valley. During this detailed research study which was undertaken in a 10-year period starting in 1993, Kala had made an inventory of at least 520 alipine plants growing exclusively in this national park.
Though the June 2013 disaster has shifted the focus of the authorities more on tourism than on environmental conservation, botanists, experts and environmentalists express concern eliciting focus on factors including the varied and severity of threats being experienced in the biodiversity areas in Uttarakhand, especially the valley of flowers, like grazing and trampling by large herds of domestic livestock, indiscriminate exploitation of rare medicinal herbs in the area and pack animals plying on trade routes has resulted in exerting additional stress on this fragile ecosystem.