Tourist boom threatens to overwhelm Indian mountain town where Dalai Lama sought refuge | Global Development

SUVs and sedans drive slowly down McLeod Ganj’s narrow, one-way Jogiwara Road, honking at pedestrians and scooter riders and blasting music. The powerful vehicles soon find themselves stuck in traffic near the Kalachakra Temple, the place of worship of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso.

“You can easily be stuck in traffic here for two hours,” says a frustrated local taxi driver, who does not want to give his name.

McLeod Ganj, a Himalayan town known for its temples, meditation courses and ashrams, is witnessing an influx of domestic tourists seeking refuge from the rising temperatures in dry and tropical states across India. Many come to enjoy cricket matches with views of the mighty Dhauladhar Mountains overlooking the stadium, which has become a magnet for Indian sports fans.

Once, monks in burgundy robes dominated the color palette of McLeod Ganj’s main market. The town was the place where thousands of Tibetans fled after the 1959 uprising against the Chinese in Tibet exiled the Dalai Lama here.

It became a haven not only for Tibetans but also for foreign hippie travelers and others seeking a quiet and contemplative environment. But now vehicles and groups of Indian tourists crowd these streets, filming videos and clicking selfies. More than 150 new hotels have been built or opened in the past four years.

The Tibetan community of McLeod Ganj has been migrating from the hill station for years in search of better work opportunities. But now the impact of the climate crisis and overtourism is causing others to consider leaving. The population has shrunk dramatically, locals say.

“This is no longer the quiet and peaceful McLeod Ganj. The only reason we stay here is because we want to stay close to our spiritual leader Dalai Lama,” says Kunsang, owner of Cafe Hope.

The May-to-July tourist season is gone, with visitors coming year-round, he says. “People come here to party for a few days and then leave, rather than staying for a while.”

The Dalai Lama, who turned 89 last month, has played a pivotal role in building a new home for Tibetans in India and is a symbol of hope for the scattered diaspora, says Dr Latika Gupta of the Faculty of Education at the University of Delhi.

Surrounded by snow-capped mountains and cedar forests, the city of Dharamshala is 1,457 meters above sea level, keeping the temperature cool. The weather conditions were similar to those in Tibet, making Dharamshala a perfect new home for the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan refugees who followed him into exile.

But this year’s heatwaves in India have sent temperatures soaring in Dharamshala and its suburbs of McLeod Ganj and Dharamkot, with temperatures now regularly reaching 40 degrees Celsius, previously a rarity in the region.

“You have to keep an onion skin in your pocket to protect yourself from this heat,” says Dorjee, a Tibetan man in his late 80s, who is playing chess in the square.

India’s capital New Delhi reached 49.1C on May 29. Temperatures in states near Dharamshala such as Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab also reached nearly 50C in the heat wave in May, according to India Meteorological Department.

This attracted wealthy and middle-class Indian families to the hills, many to McLeod Ganj, a world-wide attraction since the Dalai Lama and his followers arrived in the 1960s. Visitors such as the Beatles also came to the area.

“This place used to be full of foreigners. Their goal was to study Tibet and its culture, Buddhism, or to participate in yoga or meditation retreats. Because of this, they would stay here for months,” says Jempa, a Tibetan man in his early 80s who followed the Dalai Lama to India with his parents as a boy.

“Earlier, I used to have international travellers who would stay for six months, a year, two years. Those days are gone now,” says Neeraj Rajput, manager of Misty Woods, a hotel in McLeod Ganj.

Local bed and breakfasts, hotels and eateries are also facing competition from the rapid rise of luxury hotel chains and homestays, according to more than half a dozen local business owners.

“Since the cricket stadium opened, many more three and five-star properties have been built in areas we didn’t even know existed. The entire Dharamshala is probably covered now,” adds Rajput, who has been managing Misty Woods for almost a decade.

The former visitors here, who came from abroad, would not bring cars but use local taxis to move around. But domestic tourists bring their air-conditioned cars, which leads to traffic jams and less income for taxi drivers.

“There is not much difference in my income during the tourist season or the low season. During the high season, I can usually only make a few trips and I also get stuck in traffic for hours,” says another taxi driver, who also wishes to remain anonymous. “During the low season, even though there are fewer people, I can make more trips, probably with less traffic.”

Now that the debate over Tibet’s freedom has faded from the world stage, many new visitors, especially from the younger generations, are unaware of the Dalai Lama’s connections to Tibet’s history. Instead, they see an exotic place of monasteries, prayer flags and waterfalls.

The climate crisis is having an impact here. Triund, one of McLeod Ganj’s main water sources, has dried up this summer, according to people visiting the popular trekking route.

“It was completely dry there. We didn’t even have water to wash our hands,” said Amandeep Kaur, a university lecturer who took a dozen of her students on a trek in June.

The monsoon season is also proving to be more extreme, with landslides and cloudbursts common in the state of Himachal Pradesh. On August 1, a red alert was issued for the Kangra Valley in Dharamshala after cloudbursts in the state, including the capital Simla, left 50 people missing and five dead.

Dorjee is among the locals who blame tourism-related construction for making the situation worse. “If you keep drilling holes in the mountains, what do you think will happen?” he says. “I’m not an engineer or an architect, but my mother used to make money building roads in these mountains. I helped build the (Dalai Lama) temple here. Things should be built on the mountain instead of being torn down,” he says.