Tosamaidan is a stunningly mesmerizing landscape situated at a distance of 60 km away from Srinagar and nestled in the Pir Panjal Mountains of district Budgam between two beautiful meadows of Gulmarg and Dodhpathri from its north and south sides respectively. Tosamaidan is about 5 Km in length and more than 2.5 Km in breadth at the elevation of 3150 Mts. Its breath-taking splendour of lush green meadows and forests, snow-capped hills, gushing streams, alpine green pastures, perennial and crystal clear streams, shimmering lakes, hissing springs, giant glaciers, rich wildlife, mountainous gorges, carpet green turfs, cool breeze, and invigorating and salubrious climate are making it an ideal destination for nature enthusiasts’. It is the perfect place for nature lovers to enjoy mesmerising beauties of nature. Nature lovers can feel inexplicable solace in an unmatched and unparalleled beautiful destination of Tosamaidan.Tosamaidan can offer visitors a wide opportunity to experience its diverse ecosystems. It refreshes the hearts and minds of visitors and indeed Tosamaidan is a feast for their eyes and minds. Tosamaidan is so magnetizing and attractive that visitors feel no less than the heaven on the earth and it deserves the very beautiful accolades like the “Paradise on earth” and the ‘Switzerland of Asia”. Tosamaidan has a large area and its green pastures are limitless where shepherds of many villages of district Budgam are taking their sheep for grazing during summer season. The green pastures of Tosamaidan flanked with white sheep of shepherds are also presenting a very beautiful look that is further adding to the mesmerising beauty of Tosamaidan. Tosamaidan has a great potential for adventure activities like trekking, mountaineering, zip-line, Zorb ball, alpine skiing, ski touring, ski mountaineering, ski-paragliding, paragliding, mountain running, mountain biking, ATV’S etc. due to its conducive climate and topography. Tosamaidan is a source of many perennial water bodies like Nalah Sukh-Nagh, Doodhganga Nalah, Suresh Kulh and Googaldara Nalah that are providing water to district Budgam, Baramulla and Srinagar for irrigation, construction and drinking purposes. The clear water of Tosamaidan flowing through many villages is a source of employment to lakhs of people. It irrigates lakhs of hectares of agricultural and horticultural land in hundreds of villages. Many unemployed educated youth of district Budgam have established their trout farms on crystal clean water coming from the Tosamaidan. Tosamaidan is rich in flora and fauna that adds to its fascinating scenery in addition to maintaining ecological balance. It holds great importance as it has a great treasure of medicinal and ornamental plants. Flowering of medicinal and ornamental plants in almost all seasons and their fragrance on the vast land of Tosamaidan refreshes the souls of visitors’.
Promoting and adopting eco-friendly practices, conserving natural resources, preserving local culture and heritage in Tosamaidan will not only save its environment but also will generate revenue and create more employment opportunities for the local people. The foreign and domestic tourist inflow to J & K will increase, hoteliers, guides, pony walls’, transporters, shopkeepers, vendors etc. will get better profits and the Bollywood film makers will use it most common and forget to visit foreign countries like Switzerland. The economy of Jammu and Kashmir government and the people will also increase.
Having the highest number of trekking routes, green pastures, meadows and vast area of land as compared to other tourist destinations in J&K, the Tosamaidan receives very low visitors due to various reasons particularly lack of macadamised road, transport facility, electricity, drinking water, mobile connectivity and other facilities etc. For the past many years, there has been a boom of tourist flow to Jammu and Kashmir due to efforts of the government. Although, it was a good and appreciable step but at the same time unregulated tourist flow beyond carrying capacity at few particular tourist places like Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Sonamarg etc. can have serious ecological consequences on the fragile environment of J & K. There is a need to promote lesser known destinations’ like Tosamaidan on lines of sustainable tourism as such destinations particularly Tosamaidan has huge carrying capacity and will lessen the burden on most frequently visited tourist destinations in Jammu and Kashmir. It is pertinent to mention that Tosamaidan is still in its virgin natural state and there is need for developmental activities there in such a way that will not deteriorate its natural environment, virginity and fragile ecology. Eco friendly markets and infrastructures’ on sustainable lines in Tosamaidan reduces the huge rush of tourists to other tourist places. Development of scientific solid waste management facilities and installation of waste processing machines at Tosamaidan place will keep it clean and waste free. There is also a need for regulations in Tosamaidan otherwise this beautiful place will also face vandalization due to driving of vehicles and off-road activities. Driving of vehicles in Tosamaidan and its forests will cause great damage to its ecosystem. Activities at eco fragile sensitive sites of Tosamaidan like glaciers, lakes can have serious consequences on ecological balance in nature. Visiting this beautiful place should not affect its ecology and environment. There is a need to prevent the disturbance of mesmerising Tosamaidan. Blanket ban on plastic items, polythene bags and other non biodegradable items and promoting local organic foods in biodegradable items should be encouraged in Tosamaidan for making it the most beautiful eco-tourism destination in India. Visitors should explore Tosamaidan region in a responsible manner, minimizing their environmental footprints and respecting the local culture and tradition. Sustainable development of Tosamaidan will certainly open floodgates of employment opportunities for unemployed educated youth and reduce rising unemployment rate in Jammu and Kashmir. Promoting and adopting eco-friendly practices, conserving natural resources, preserving local culture and heritage in Tosamaidan will not only save its environment but also will generate revenue and create more employment opportunities for the local people. The foreign and domestic tourist inflow to J & K will increase, hoteliers, guides, pony walls’, transporters, shopkeepers, vendors etc. will get better profits and the Hollywood film makers will use it most common and forget to visit foreign countries like Switzerland. The economy of Jammu and Kashmir government and the people will also increase. Let us hope that all concerned authorities’ will join hands together to promote Tosamaidan on sustainable lines and equally people become environmentally conscious to conserve and protect Tosamaidan and other tourist places in a responsible way. Otherwise, all tourist places in J & K will soon become extinct and the whole J & K will face the deleterious effects of climate change and natural disasters.
(The author is a teacher at Govt Boys Higher Secondary School Beerwa Budgam. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”)
