Ongoing forest fires in Uttarakhand's Bageshwar and Almora districts have begun to impact tourism in the Kumaon region, with arrivals dropping up to 20% in places such as Kausani this season, according to hoteliers.
Other tourist destinations in the region witnessing reduced activity include Kasar Devi, Chaukori, Mukteshwar and Ranikhet. Notably, tourists from Delhi-NCR visit in large numbers during this time to beat the summer heat, but hoteliers say they are mostly absent so far.
Significantly, continuing last year's trend, Uttarakhand has received 1,137 forest fire alerts from the Forest Survey of India (FSI) until April 27. In the past week, the state has seen a continuous rise in fire alerts, with Monday recording at least 170. Fires blazed in districts like Almora, Pithoragarh, Garhwal and Rudraprayag, according to forest officials. Last year until April 30, FSI's alerts were about 1,764.
"In the past few days, smoke has reduced visibility of Himalayan peaks, a key attraction for visitors. Even nearby hills are not visible. It has affected tourism with 15-20% arrivals so far here, and in other parts of Kumaon. Around this time last year, there were nearly 60% tourist arrivals in our area," said Bablu Negi, president of the hotel association in Kausani. Another hotel owner, Puran Dasaud, added that the fires reached close to his property and were brought under control after considerable effort. The situation remained similar in pockets of Nainital, Pithoragarh, Almora, Bageshwar and Champawat, which were battling multiple forest fire incidents.
Tourists who had already arrived were disappointed. Amit Arora, who travelled from Mumbai, said, "We came here to see the sunrise and the Himalayas, but there is smoke everywhere. It's disappointing." Nivika Rathore, a tourist from Delhi, added, "We come to the hills to escape pollution, but smoke from forest fires and traffic are present here as well."
Acknowledging the situation, state nodal officer of forest fires and disaster management, Sushant Patnaik, said, "Rise in temperature has added to the fire ignition. We're protecting our staff from the heatwave as well as the fire-fighting risks by providing them protective gear and ensuring that they are not undertaking any fire prevention activity in isolation and engaging more community members with them."
Bageshwar DM, Akanksha Konde, added that most of the fire incidents appeared to be human-induced. "An FIR was registered in one such case, and a 10-day special drive was launched to intensify monitoring and take stern action against those responsible," Konde added.
Meanwhile, Digvijay Singh Adhikari, president of the hotel association in Nainital, said that tourism in Nainital had not yet been significantly affected by the ongoing forest fires. "However, a slight reduction in visibility due to smoke from nearby forest fires has started to become noticeable," Adhikari said, adding that the local administration must act proactively and closely monitor, as any escalation in these fires could soon begin to impact tourism in the region.
Officials, meanwhile, said religious pilgrimage in this region remained largely unaffected. Pilgrim sites such as Kainchi Dham and Jageshwar continued to see steady footfall, while Nainital still received visitors despite the conditions, they added.
Experts pointed to dry conditions caused by low winter rainfall and the accumulation of pine needles as key factors accelerating the spread of fires. The resulting smoke had not only affected visibility but also altered the typically cool climate of the region, they said.
