It is oddly tempting to describe the area known as the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve as 'tucked away' up in India's newest mountain state of Uttaranchal. In reality, the region towers and. sprawls for all to see, so long as one is up at the level of the vultures and eagles. For better or worse, getting to such soaring heights has been a necessary first step for seeing the area over recent decades; since the early 1980s, the Indian government has largely outlawed actual tramping through these hills, in the interests of conservation. 'Reserve' may ideally refer to a reservation in favour of natural ecosystems, but it has also meant that the communities in the foothills of the Nanda Devi mountain complex (see photo) have been left in legal limbo, living their lives in a 'buffer zone' and legislated outside of these lands.
Since Uttaranchal was carved out of northwestern Uttar Pradesh in 2000, there has been a movement to re-introduce an exotic species into the backwoods and upper reaches of Nanda Devi — tourists. Although this thrust for the reintroduction of tourism is coming from both state and grassroots levels, there the similarities end. While the Dehra Dun-based state authorities would like to spread the largesse or exploit it for remote beneficiaries — depending on how you read it — adamant local groups are actively seeking to maintain their hold over tourism. They would like to retain the decision-making power as well as tourism revenue among the communities who live here. Their success would keep control over Nanda Devi tourism with the residents of the Niti Valley, along the Dhauliganga and Girthiganga rivers, in the villages of Reni, Lata, Kailashpur, among others. While benefiting the locals, the initiative would also be a path-breaking example for communities in other areas, where tourism potential exists amidst economic marginality.
Nanda Devi is the second-highest peak in India, standing 7817 metres in the thin air between India and Tibet. After being expanded last year, the Reserve itself now covers more than 5860 sq km of gorges, peaks and rivers, but the most critical area for the current discussions is referred to as the 'core zone', a region surrounded by Himalayan peaks and ridgelines. This core sanctuary constitutes around 620 sq km of the Rishi Valley — a part of the larger Niti Valley — where the Rishi Ganga constitutes the only drainage out of the core region. The zone is almost entirely above 3500 metres, where a unique and remote microclimate has allowed for the flourishing of a host of Himalayan species, including the snow leopard, musk deer and hundreds of flora. Although it was traditionally used for grazing in the high alpine bugiyal by the local communities, the core zone was declared off-limits to all in 1982, when the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve was declared a national park. Permission to step foot within the reserve is presently the prerogative of Reserve officials in Joshimath, about 25 km away. That stricture has, however, been challenged on several notable occasions over the years, both by unlicensed trekking parties and groups of outraged villagers practicing pointed civil disobedience.
This rugged region was part of the local economy, mostly used for grazing during off-winter months, and there was a trading route that led through the area into high Tibet. The mountains also provided another source of income to the inhabitants, after the first climbing expedition arrived in 1934 to set foot in the 'inner sanctuary' with an eye on the Nanda Devi peak. Two years later, another group succeeded in making it to the peak's summit. Over the course of the following 46 years, 14 additional expeditions achieved the Nanda Devi summit, while trekkers and climbers began to explore other parts of the Rishi basin. The effect of unregulated tourism on the area's fragile ecosystem was compounded until 1982, when all activity was suddenly stopped. More than a decade later, an ecological expedition carried out over a tonne of garbage, left by a half-century's worth of climbing and trekking.