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Any Plans to Make

Lakshadweep a Tourist Hub
That Rivals the Maldives Could
Prove Costly
India cannot just open the floodgates to tourism. It must be
scientifically paced. There is an obligation to protect the Islands'
fragile ecology and limited assets. It's no shame to say we have
insufficient space.
 Any Plans To Make Lakshadweep A Tourist Hub SUPPORT
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When Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently visited
Lakshadweep, his narrative of the exhilarating experiences
set off Support
a storm Us in neighbouring Maldives. On social media,
Modi put out Lakshadweep images of white beaches,
pristine blue skies, and the ocean. Modi’s intent was to get
Indians to put Lakshadweep high on the catalogue of places
they must as part of their vacation. His visit and subsequent
call was as political as it was touristic.

How ready is Lakshadweep for mass tourism? Lakshadweep

can only be reached by ships and flights operated from
India’s lone gateway – Kochi. Only Indian airlines operate
flights from Kochi. As a tropical archipelago of 36 atolls
and coral reefs in the Laccadive Sea, those who travel to
Lakshadweep must acquire permits to visit populated ten
islands.

In 2021, a letter written by a collective of 58 lawyers and

researchers urged the President of India to ensure “Peace,
Progress & Good Governance”: They underscored that the
island’s geography, ecology, and sociological factors placed
likely limits on the kinds of distinctive development that the
archipelago could accommodate. Meanwhile, there has been
a massively indifferent response to the Lakshadweep
Development Authority Regulation (LDAR) scheme to
develop eco-tourism attractions such as water villas. A water
villa offers water retreats of all the comforts that one
desires. These magnificent villas, built on stilts, are within
sight of a coral reef with its colorful marine life.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lakshadweep. Photo: X

(Twitter)/@narendramodi.

Large-scale tourism and its impact on the island’s

ecology

Tourism as a form of luxury must be suitably moderated and

controlled. Jose Dominic of CGH Earth Group, whose
company used to run a resort in Lakshadweep, fervently
promotes nature and the environment in his business and
asserts that opulence must never override the interests of the
planet and society. Like other naturalists and
conservationists, CGH works on core values including
respect for the environment, local community, and adoption
of the local ethos.

Mainstream tourism shows disregard for the notion of

carrying capacity and holds up profits as precedence.
“Tourism Carrying Capacity”, according to the World
Tourism Organization, is “the maximum number of people
that may visit a tourist destination at the same time, without
causing destruction of the physical, economic, socio-cultural
environment and an unacceptable decrease in the quality of
visitors’ satisfaction”. If Lakshadweep were to evolve into a
space for large-scale tourism, and it emerges as a crowded
Any PlansitTocould
space with all its appendages, Make Lakshadweep A Touristthe
gravely harm Hub SUPPORT
island’s ecology. That Rivals The Maldives Could Prove Costly US
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Also read: Experts Write to President to Withdraw

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‘Incautious’ Draft Lakshadweep Regulation 2021

There is a tendency for the tourism industry to push for

dredging of the sea bed to enable the arrival of ships and
cruise liners. Dredging and desilting can have serious and
long-lasting negative impacts on the environment. For
example, it can damage or destroy fish spawning grounds.
Silt can become suspended in the water, lowering oxygen
levels, and potentially releasing harmful chemicals that may
be present.

Scientists and marine biologists are also opposed to

dredging because coral reefs provide food and resources for
more than 500 million people in over 100 countries and
territories and are valued at an economic value of $375
billion a year. Dredging and desilting also have serious and
long-lasting negatives by destroying fish spawning grounds
and making river banks unstable.

According to the International Association of Dredging

Companies, “Coral reefs are large, long-lived bio-geological
structures that are marine ridges or mounds. They are
formed from the deposition of calcium carbonate by living
organisms, predominantly hard corals, but also by other
organisms such as coralline algae and shellfish.” Further,
“they are robust and have often withstood the forces of
storms, climatic change, sea level change and predators, the
living elements – coral, coralline algae and shellfish that
build these structures – are just a very thin veneer of
delicate tissue, highly sensitive to the surrounding
environment. The destruction of coral reefs can be life-
threatening to nature, sea life, and humans. Any form of
Any deemed
their degradation must be Plans To Make
as Lakshadweep A Tourist Hub
‘sacrilegious’. SUPPORT
That Rivals The Maldives Could Prove Costly US
The aggressive call to inflate tourism to levels which exceed LOGIN
carrying capacity levels would depressingly alter the
serenitySupport
that Us
now characterises the islands. There are only
some selected locations that one can visit on the main island
of Lakshadweep – Kavaratti is one of the more developed
islands. It is home to dozens of mosques, including the
Kavaratti Aquarium which showcases regional fish, shark
and coral species. However, mass tourists crave to be
entertained in a myriad of other ways. These can be
inexpedient to the ecosystem.

The tragic case of Goa

Take the example of Goa. When tourism arrived in Goa in

the 1960s, the hippies attracted young people with the
cultural isolation, beauty of tropical nature, and the
atmosphere of spirituality reigning there. People here are
different, parties are more indie and yoga and spiritual. The
hippie culture in Anjuna, Vagator, and Baga in North Goa,
was all about freedom, spirituality and creativity. The town,
notably Anjuna, still has its home-based guesthouses, cafes,
and art galleries that are perfect for people who live a
bohemian lifestyle. Hippie-styled people and hippies
themselves, who came to Goa and still believe in the ideals
of the hippie culture, run these places.

Tragically, in less than two decades, a short 108 km

coastline of calm and serenity was trounced by crowds with
large hotels and resorts. Coastal Goa is dotted with casinos,
gambling parks, massage parlors, dance clubs, a drug trade,
and an offensive sex industry. Today, a 1.4 million
population are in overdrive as they host over 7 million
tourists!
Back to Lakshadweep – PM Modi’s invitation to Indians to
throng to LakshadweepAny hasPlans To Maketensions
created Lakshadweep A Tourist
with Hub
Maldives. SUPPORT
Union minister Kishan That Rivalsdeclared
Reddy The Maldives Could
that Prove Costly
Lakshadweep US
has huge tourism potential and called on Indian travelers to LOGIN
explore Lakshadweep leaving aside other overseas
destinations for exciting domestic holidays. This call raised
Support Us
a red flag in Maldives. It was perceived as an unannounced
competition. Ostensibly Maldives perceived a threat to their
tourism market – a market frequented by some 20,000
Indian tourists annually seeking tourist pleasures that
Maldives has readied and made operational. Social media
heated up.

Maldives still has the edge and Lakshadweep cannot rapidly

reach Maldives’ levels of tourist influx easily. Maldives has
close to 1,200 islands across 26 atolls spread over 9,000 sq
km. Lakshadweep, by comparison, has a land area
measuring 32 sq km. The only way Lakshadweep can
compete with Maldives is by total destruction of the reefs
and islands of Lakshadweep in less than a few years.

Lessons from the Maldives to Lakshadweep

Lakshadweep ought to absorb lessons from the horrors of

what one finds hidden from view in what is euphemistically
termed ‘Maldives – Always Natural’. Maldives conceals
stench-filled smoke cascading into the water, swarms of
flies, and toxic smoke from dumps of garbage. The
Thilafushi Corporation, a body that works on the island and
estimates the garbage coming to the island is about “300-
400 tons of trash per day”. Rising sea levels endanger
Thilafushi which will lead waste from the landfill into the
Indian Ocean when they overspill and result in
environmental havoc. The total plastic footprint in the
Maldives is about 12% of the total waste amounting to
nearly 43,134 tons per year (Maldives Ocean Plastics
Alliance, 2021).
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An aerial view of beaches in Lakshadweep. Photo: X

(Twitter)/@narendramodi.

Maldives has become emblematic of the challenges that sea

level rise will bring to many countries. The former president
of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, a champion of Island
nations, speaking for 50 climate-vulnerable countries at a
UN conference averred that those living in threatened
coastal areas and islands “are paying with our lives for the
carbon someone else emitted”.

Climate change is accelerating the rise in sea levels around

the world, leaving some of the most vulnerable populations
to live in marginal areas where flooding from high tides is
increasing. Higher sea levels coincide with hurricanes and
typhoons that result in more rain, contributing to storm
surges that can strip away everything in their path.

According to the UNDP, Lakshadweep, just 1-2 meters

above sea level on average –where every seventh person is a
fisherman – is losing its coral reefs and facing varieties of
climate change at multiple levels. Tourists, in general, are
especially fascinated by corals and the colorful reefs. They
are beautiful and biologically diverse habitats in the ocean,
as well as some of the most ancient.
Lakshadweep used to be the perfect example of how coral
islands are formed and Any
howPlans
theTocorals
Make Lakshadweep A Tourist Hub
nurture marine life SUPPORT
and also the people whoThat Rivals The
depend onMaldives
them.Could Proveand
Corals, Costlythe US
atolls and lagoons they form, are now in grave danger from LOGIN
global warming. In October, the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change, the world’s largest body of climate
Support Us
scientists and experts, dropped a bombshell in a special
report called Global Warming of 1.5ºC citing risks. The
report delivered at the United Nations’ 48th session of the
IPCC offered an “authoritative, scientific guide for
governments” to deal with climate change.

Sadly, Corals and coral reefs near Kavaretti are reportedly

irreversibly endangered and activists are finding them hard
to restore. Preserving delicate habitats such as coral reefs
can be a challenging task for scientists. One of the most
significant challenges is the sheer size and complexity of
coral reefs. Coral reefs are some of the most bio-diverse
environments on Earth, and they support a staggering array
of plant and animal species.

For mass tourism in Lakshadweep to take off, an airport

which can cope with heavy aircraft will be
required. Airplanes burn fossil fuel which not only releases
CO2 emissions but contributes to climate change.
Suggestions that air connectivity must be enhanced are
being propagated. For people in Lakshadweep, all this is a
potential nightmare. Indian corporations from the mainland
are placing profits over people and the ecosystem. Fears of
cruise lines stepping in will mean redeveloping the island’s
port to accommodate huge ships. Coral dredging to
accommodate this will cause irreversible damage that
cannot be altered.

Amidst the disparaging remarks aimed at India by

Maldivian politicians on Twitter, EaseMyTrip CEO hastily
terminated all packages to the Maldives. Several Indian
travelers canceled their Maldives bookings.
Meanwhile, the Maldives Any social
Plans To media
Make Lakshadweep A Tourist
users reject Hub
India’s SUPPORT
attempt to “compete” with theirThe
That Rivals country
MaldivesasCould
a choice for
Prove Costly US
tropical vacations. Zahid Rameez of the Progressive Party of
LOGIN
Maldives (PPM), indecorously declared: “The move is
great. However, the idea of competing with us is delusional.
How canSupport
theyUsprovide the service we offer? How can they
be so clean?” Rameez’s posts instigated a range of racist
remarks against Indians and Indian tourists. Indian tourists
have remained among the top ten nationalities travelling to
Maldives every year. In 2023 alone, Indians formed the
largest group of tourists with over 200,000 travelers,
followed by tourists from Russia and China. The Maldives
is profoundly dependent on tourism and the industry
accounts for over 28 percent of its GDP.

India tourism planners need to view Lakshadweep as a

space that typifies the most ideal form of tourism. It’s
magnificent: expansive sandy beaches, coral reefs and create
the opportunity for scuba diving, and windsurfing – thrills
that are not available just about anywhere except in the
coastal areas and Small Islands. India cannot just open the
floodgates to tourism. It must be scientifically paced. There
is an obligation to protect the Islands’ fragile ecology and
limited assets. It’s no shame to say we have insufficient
space. To promote ‘responsible Tourism’ is more crucial.

Any plan to turn Lakshadweep into a destination that rivals

the Maldives will see India come a cropper; especially in the
extent of environmental and human damage it will cost
Lakshadweep.

If Indian corporations eye profit and invest, they could end

up indulging in a massive overhaul of the infrastructure in
the Islands which is currently meant to service its 60,000-
plus local residents. Indian industry will get into an unequal
and unfair competition with the Islanders who view their
coral reefs as sustenance to their eco-systems which, then,
enable them to harvest tuna, and tuna-like fishes and sharks.
Anyboast
Rather than being able to Plans ToofMake Lakshadweep Aenterprise,
a successful Tourist Hub SUPPORT
That Rivals
India may end up destroying The Maldives Could Prove Costly
a heaven-on-earth. US
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Tourism which is not structured to preserve the ecosystem,
Support
enhance localUscommunities, their livelihoods, and conserve
and protect their cultures, is the very antithesis of tourism.

Ranjan Solomon is a human rights activist, who has worked

as General Secretary of a Global Coalition on Third World
Tourism. He has also worked pro-bono as Founder and
Consultant of the ‘Centre for Responsible Tourism in
Goa’.
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