Assam 2009 - Posoowa

anks provide livelihoods to the
port cities, rural habitat and
mythological sites.
Visionary projects and policies
to revamp the NE into a dream
destination
It is well known that Northeast India
has everything, what with natural
treasures both above and beneath
its ground. Its altitude varies from 25
m to 5000 m above sea level and annual
rainfall varies from 1000 mm to 11000
mm. It has remarkable geomorphic and
climatic diversity. The Brahmaputra
basin is one of the most complex in the
world. In summary, the NE is rich in
eco-, bio- and geo- diversity. The region
has also diversities in heritage culture,
dialects, history and mythological
beliefs. The NE is a trapped zone since
it has no seashore and only a two
percent national boundary.
In the NE, there are many kinds of
activities that can be promoted to boost
tourism potential. Some enjoyable
possibilities include jungle safari, rural
safari, eco-camping, angling, boating
and rafting. The adventurous kinds
include kayaking, mountain biking,
parasailing, hang gliding and aquaterra.
The educational or research
activities pertain to geomorphology,
climatology, bird watching, wild life
observation, festivals, folklores,
mythology, history, petroleum mining,
tea, xatriya culture, ethnic cultures, arts,
handlooms and handicrafts. Besides the
above, there are some leisure activities
for the high profile tourists. Those are
long distance river cruise on the
Brahmaputra and camping in tea estate
bungalows with golfing, particularly for
the nostalgic tourists from England,
some of whose forefathers had been
the tea innovators. They also derive
nostalgia from the World War II
27
cemeteries at Kohima and Digboi. The
Digboi oil refinery, the tunnel rich
heritage railway in the Borail Hill and
old oil fields along with war shelters for
the British engineers remain their
locales of exploration in the NE. The
first ever church in the NE was
established at Lunglei, as the ABF
missionaries entered the NE through
the Kaladan River. Similarly, the Patkai
Hill would also be nostalgic for the
American and the British because of
close association with Second World
War history including the Stillwell road.
The NE has tremendous tourism
potential due to the following.
1. The Brahmaputra, Kaziranga,
Manas, Majuli, Logtok, Kamakhya,
Neer Mahal, Kochbehar Palace,
World War Cemeteries and the hill
stations of Shillong, Cherapunji,
Gangtok, Darjeeling and Tawang
have received global publicity as
heritage sites.
2. The Brahmaputra Valley is known
for the grand festival of Bihu, the
richness of Xatriya culture and the
monasteries in river island of
Majuli, the crowded festival of
Ambubachi at Kamakhya,
archaeological carvings in the
Talatalghar and the Agnigarh, wild
lives in the national parks and green
lushes in tea-gardens.
3. The Brahmaputra Basin embraces
the Valley with numerous majestic
tributaries. Again the eco-friendly
4. Each route to every heritage site is
nestled with awesome landscapes,
sanctuaries, serene monasteries,
lakes, rivulets and snow clad peaks.
5. Reserve forests and tea gardens are
the gems of the NE. These are
endowed with endangered flora
and fauna, many species of plants
including varieties of bamboo,
cane, orchid and medicinal herb.
These are like paradise for
residential and migratory birds.
The landscapes in tea gardens, agro
farms and historic golf courses in
the midst of eco rich environment
are really scenic.
6. The NE has many energy sources
such as oil and gas fields, coalfields,
hydroelectric power projects, an
upcoming uranium project and
prospective geothermal energy
sources. The scope for developing
biotechnology in the NE is also
enormous. Kohima and Imphal
are tagged as solar cities of the NE.
Technologies of the region are
being promoted for research and
exploration as well as for boosting
the tourism.
7. Most of the pilgrimage sites have
deeply spiritual characteristics.
With all the above and more, we can
aspire to attract numerous tourists. We
need visionary projects to renovate the
NE as a dream destination. We need to
develop better policies to accelerate
growth and productivity in NE tourism.
For this, we should focus on
implementing the following.
To get started, it is essential to upgrade
the basic infrastructural facilities
belonging to the hospitality and
transport sectors. Eco-friendly type
tourist help kiosks need to be set up at
all important road junctions of all the
NE discovery routes. The kiosk should
be resourced with restroom facilities
and guide maps. Roads need
continuous maintenance. Basic training
programs in ‘tourist handling’ is
essential for registered tour operators,
resort operators and taxi drivers so that
POSOOWA • June 2009