By Vishnu Makhijani, IANS
New Delhi : A ski resort being developed in the western Himalayas will not only promote adventure sports and give India a chance to bid for the Winter Olympics but also pioneer the concept of socially responsible tourism, its developers say.
“We are committed to social and environmental sustainability and plan to become an international flagship for responsible tourism,” John Sims, managing director of the Himalayan Ski Village (HSV), which is coming up at Manali in Himachal Pradesh, said of the 350-million euro project.
Being funded by Henry Ford’s great grandson Alfred Ford, HSV aims to create world-class infrastructure to position Manali amongst the world’s best tourism destinations.
And to ensure it practises what it preaches, HSV has enlisted the services of a variety of experts in the field of environmentally sustainable tourism, resort development, construction and snow management, Sims pointed out.
Among the experts is Sanjeev Pande, a former director of the Great Himalayan National Park in the Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh that is home to a rich diversity of flora and fauna.
“So, inside the chicken coop, we have a fox,” Sims said of the watchdog role Pande would perform.
Prominent environmental agencies like The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) have completed their EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) of the project and are in the process of developing environment management policies that will be incorporated during the construction and operational phases of the resort.
“The policies will cover all aspects of environmental impact on flora, fauna and local communities from all possible sources including solid and liquid waste, and air and noise pollution,” Sims stated.
“The latest energy conservation technologies like solar energy and green disposal technologies for sewage will also be employed,” he added.
The HSV project includes the development of luxury hotels, chalets, suites, conference facilities, an entertainment centre, restaurants and retail options. Access to the mountain area for skiing, trekking and other adventure activities will be provided by a network of gondolas and chairlifts.
The project aims to employ more than 3,500 people when fully developed and HSV will hire more than 70 percent of them from the villages around Manali.
“Once we are fully up and running, we will have all the facilities in place for staging the Winter Olympics and it will be then for the authorities to bid for this,” Sims maintained.
The Himachal Pradesh government cleared HSV’s Detailed Project Report in June. Its EIA is now awaiting approval from the ministry of environment and forests and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) before commencing construction later this year.
HSV has also set up a training institute for winter sports operations. The first phase saw 75 skiers from local villages being trained for the roles of ski instructors, snow safety and search and rescue operations when the resort begins its operations. This group was then whittled down to 40 for advanced training in Finland.
According to Sims, in addition to direct employment, the HSV project will bring indirect employment and business opportunities to the local community through sourcing of local produce like fruits, flowers, milk, and vegetables for daily consumption in the resort and services like adventure and tour operation.
“These will be linked via specific HSV-sponsored rural development initiatives like cheese making, beehive products and green-house farming,” Sims added.