G20 Group meeting emphasis on green tourism in Darjeeling

PRASHANT ACHARYA, EOI, SILIGURI, APRIL 1, 2023 : Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and Development of North Eastern Region, G Kishan Reddy on Saturday put special emphasis on encouraging adventure tourism in India taking advantage of the geographical conditions of the country. 

While addressing the session on" Adventure Tourism as a vehicle for achieving Sustainable Development Goals" at Makaibari, Kurseong, Reddy said with its rich geographical conditions India had big opportunities of encouraging adventure tourism. The country was endowed with numerous avenues to support such kind of tourism, considering the four elements of land, water, sky and hills. 

For this, he said, India could use 70 percent of the mighty Himalayas, besides taking advantage of more than 7,000 kms of coast line, seven major rivers, 70,000 km of sandy desert and 700 sanctuaries, including 16 tiger reserves. He added, all these provided ample opportunities for a variety of adventurous activities in India. He also said adventure tourism in India was gaining immense popularity and enthusiasts should take advantage of this. 

Welcoming the delegates, G-20 Chief Coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla said Green Tourism and Green Development were going to be the main focus in the Second G-20 Tourism Working Group meet. This was the opportunity for all the delegates to witness how people co-existed with nature and nurtured it in a sustainable manner, Shringla said. 

Sustainability, according to Shringla, was the main focus at this time. “We will carry on discussions on it in all the deliberations,” he said. Shringla said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stated before assuming the G-20 Presidency that every part of the country had some uniqueness and that it should be nurtured in the conventions of the G-20so far as India's presidency was concerned. 

“We are actually taking that opportunity to hold the conventions in different corners of the country, taking the cue from the Prime Minister,” he said. 

Padma Awardee Ajit Bajaj, adventure tourism enthusiast said, he and his daughter were totally involved in encouraging adventure tourism in various parts of India. He had himself got involved in numerous expeditions to encourage the younger ones. Delegates of several G-20 countries spoke in the session