SECOND
HOME in Sahyadri? ON SECOND THOUGHTS... Do we really need ONE??
Some days back I
read a newspaper advertise about bungalow plots for sale in the Tamhini Ghat.
The developer was trying to make a point about the necessity (like it was a
basic need of a family) of owning a Second Home in the hills. It was like those
who don't have a second home are below the poverty line! Typical marketing
strategies!!
All over the Sahyadri that I have
travelled I have seen huge townships coming up offering Second Homes. Lonavla,
Khandala, near Tung Tikona – Pavana dam, Karjat, Sinhagad area, Kamshet, etc
and now Tamhini - one of the last reamining wilderness is also being “developed”.
Sahyadri's proximity to cities like Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Nashik is becoming a
curse to it. Had it been in Marathwada or Vidarbha it would have been saved
from the ''weekends in Second Home'' culture thriving in these cities.
The popular reason given to own a bungalow in
the hills is ''to de-stress''. If you want to de-stress do some meditation.
Learn and practice some yoga, pranayam techniques. Why do we need to own a
house?? Maharashtra already has lot of hill stations – Mahabaleshwar, Panchagani,
Matheran, Lonavala, Amboli and many more. Why do we need more hill stations.
Isn't it, as human beings our responsibility to preserve some, if not all, of
the natural landsacpes? Can't we let
them just be.
Now let's see Second Home
concept from the economic point of view: buyers spend lakhs to own a house or a
bungalow plot in the hills as weekend home. Actually most of the people seldom
go and stay there and even if they do it is like once in a year (like on 31st
Dec for partying). Even when people go to stay there for vacation the house is dirty. One has to spend time cleaning the house and some times the whole vacation is spent in cleaning! Imagine cleaning when we want to relax and chill out. Or one may appoint a cleaning staff to take care of the property. This increases expenses and becomes a big headache supervising this staff!! Pure Economics : what is the point in wasting so much money and
natural resources when you are not going to use (or rarely use) that facility.
Now if we contemplate
the social impacts of such schemes they are deep running. Farmers lose their
farms and subsequently their jobs; permanently forcing them to migrate to
cities – further increasing the numbers there. Other unseen impacts may be
reduction in fertile land thus aggravating food security of the region.
Environmentally Sahyadri is one
of World's hottest hot biodiversity spot. Even slight changes there can bring
disasters in terms of money, sustainability, climate change, loss of
biodiversity, etc. If forests are cleared and fields leveled on such huge
proportions just for homes for select ''Elite'' people – it is not done. This
has to stop somewhere. If hills are cut the impact is felt in downstream areas
also - one of them is silting of dams and rivers due to soil carried by the
rains. In ever increasing water shortages we have to protect our water sources
and for that protect from which rivers emerge.
Rampant hill cutting is done
under the name of “development’’! Any virgin piece of land is considered as
underdeveloped which needs to be developed. But a forest is already developed –
the nature has worked on it for hundreds of years and developed it. Development
by definition means raising living standard of people by judicious use of
natural resources. Thus development should by itself take care of people as
well as nature. If it doesn’t, it is simply not development.
Now what can be the answer to
this? It Is true that people need to travel and spend some time with nature (I
am myself an avid traveler!). There are ways which can generate tourism as well
take care of nature and local communities. What if people don’t buy farm houses
but just stay there in local houses. Examples may be Home Stays - where
travelers stay at villagers’ house. The tourist gets to know the village life
and no need to construct new structures. Agro Tourism can be another approach
which integrates agriculture and tourism. Ecotourism can be another approach to
conserving nature – in ecotourism people can get in close contact with nature
and observe animal, birds, mountains, flowers, etc. Local youth can get
employment through tourism as guides, in hospitality and transport.
The approach needed today is
the Middle Path of conservation of nature and tourism growth. What if city
people do not buy farm houses but stay in local places because anyways it is a
question of only few days. The best example can be “Tea Houses’’ in Nepal
Himalayas where tourist stay in house-cum-hotels run by the natives!!
I just want to
request people to stop investing money in such farm plots and townships which
are coming at huge cost in terms of nature.
As said by spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravishankar –
“Walk lightly on this planet and yet leave such a footprint
that cannot be erased for thousands of years’’!!
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