Uttarakhand High Court bans adventure sports; no more river rafting in Rishikesh

Considering state safety and environmental concerns in the Himalayan state, Uttarakhand High Court has banned water sports, white water rafting and para gliding across the state until a transparent policy is not framed by the State Government with the two weeks period. The adventure tourism industry is at its peak in June month in which this ban has come across as a jolt to all.

Social activist Hari Om Kashyap filed a PIL that resulted in the ban order by a division bench of Justices Rajiv Sharma and Lok Pal Singh. On Thursday, an order was made available in which the court said, “We are shocked to know that the state government is permitting camping sites on the river beds. It pollutes the environment and ecology of the river and the surrounding areas.”

As per a report by NDTV, the tourism industry employs approximately 10,000 people including guides, cooks, instructors and drivers. Apparently, white water rafting was valued at Rs 75/80 crores yearly. In the absence of legal sanction, the adventure sports were carried out by the private entrepreneurs. One of the entrepreneur stated that being a peak season, in the in the last 24 hours there have been 200 cancellations that have cost his business a loss of Rs 4 lakh.

Due to increasing death rates by river rafting, the court has said that these activities can only be conducted by highly trained professionals. Environmental activist Harinder Dhingra shows his concern about vehicles being driven till the river beds and people littering them. He added saying, “Business is important for tourism revenue but the environment and people's safety is paramount.”

Plastics have destroyed our eco-system and now are choking the rivers.