SHILLONG: The agitational programme by pressure groups for the implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the state has affected the tourism trade which recorded a drastic fall during the last one month with tourists choosing to skirt the Meghalaya circuit.
The bandh and continuous road blockades called by the NGOs, this time from 7pm onwards has turned Shillong into a dead city once again. This has affected the income generation of local organisations who manage tourist spots in and around the state.
The San Shnong Youth Welfare Organisation (SSYWO) which looks after the Elephant Falls tourist spot say that the number of tourist vehicles coming in have dropped by 70 percent thereby impacting the micro economy of this well known tourist site.
“Normally during this time of the year we get about 100 tourist vehicles on an average per day but this time the income generation of the food and handicraft vendors, local sightseeing guides and others who depend on the tourist footfall for their livelihoods, has fallen drastically due to the adverse impact caused by these agitational programmes,” General Secretary of SSYWO Lionel Nongkhlaw said here on Wednesday.
According to him, lately, the decline in sales here has plummeted to 80 percent. “Taking the Elephant Falls experience as a template it can be roughly calculated that the drop in tourists visiting our State if at all the ILP is implemented, would hit the tourism industry here the most,” he added.
If the ILP is imposed, the sustainable tourism model prevalent in such attractive tourist sites like Elephant Falls, Shillong View Point, Nohkalikai Falls, Mawlynnong, Thangkharang Park , Mawsmai Caves, Wards Lake, Hydari park and others will be badly hit leaving the thousands dependent on the tourist inflow to scrape and scrounge for a living.
Nongkhlaw also observed that another consequence of the ILP imposition would be the increased wealth, from the ill gotten gains, of the officials manning the check gates. “What guarantee is there to check influx in the already porous and ‘money talks anti-infiltration gates’ at Byrnihat or Umkiang?” he questioned.
The SSYWO also maintained that it is a fact that till date neither the Government nor the NGOs have worked out a viable mechanism to ensure that the gates are fool proof so as to prevent illegal influx of foreigners to places like Lad Rymbai, Pynthorbah, Nongmynsong and Barapathar to name a few.
Owing to the disadvantages of ILP imposition, SSYWO has opposed the ILP on grounds of perceived loss of gainful employment to the hundreds dependent on Elephants Falls for a living. “The imposition of ILP will affect the local youth employed in the site as security, office staff, gardeners, cleaners, stall keepers, tourist guides as well as the community in the San Shnong area which is integrated with the Elephant Falls micro economy,” Nongkhlaw asserted.
The pertinent question before the pro-ILP NGOs is who will bail out these poor souls in the event of the inevitable downsizing of the SSYWO employees at Elephant Falls due to the fall in revenue generated from the tourists?
The SSYWO strongly believes in eco tourism as a means of protecting the environment in the State and for it to sustain there must be a vibrant tourism industry where the tourists visiting the State are the means to an end, supplying the much needed resources for supporting eco tourism and subsequently the protection of the eco system.
Suggesting a model to control influx, the SSYWO informed that in the villages which included–Sadew, Laitjem, Baniun, Marbaniang Umseiñiong and Pomlum, the entry of illegal migrants has been checked by the community who have entrusted the responsibility of curbing this menace to each and every family.
Further, the SSYWO recommended the strengthening of the control mechanism inherent in the concerned Department of the Government, the District Councils, the Hima, the Dorbar Shnong and right thinking citizens to check illegal entry of foreigners by practicing responsible citizenship.