By - Imkong Walling
Look for the definition of ‘Greenwashing’ on the internet browser. It will come up with this dictionary (Oxford) definition— the dissemination of misleading or deceptive publicity by an organisation with the aim of presenting an environmentally responsible public image.
It is a tactic employed by governments and businesses alike to sell something using sophisticated marketing lingo— could be a product or a development scheme packaged as environment-friendly but can have serious ecological implications. The Government of India’s controversial push for oil-palm cultivation, downplaying the oil-palm industry’s link to large-scale destruction of forest ecology, and the state governments, including Nagaland, following suit unquestioningly can serve as a contemporary model.
The proposal by the state government to develop the Dzükou Valley into a global tourist destination through a Rs 250-crore eco-tourism project is just another form of greenwashing. Try revisiting the language used. Eco-friendly— a ubiquitous jargon in environmental talk features prominently, juxtaposed by the proposal to construct a luxury hotel, and developing infrastructure designed to ease accessibility to the valley.
The proposed project, if it gets the go ahead, will be anything but eco-friendly. It demands large-scale excavation threatening the balance of a delicate ecosystem, diluting the very notion of eco-friendly tourism the government is seeking to promote.
The state government has a history of grabbing development dole-outs from Delhi, all for the money, without considering the consequences. This single-minded, fund-centric approach to development — the allure of big money development schemes— has already wreaked irreparable damage.
There is the killer Dimapur – Kohima 4-lane highway, which forms part of the National Highway-29, and the project’s devastating corollary is for all to see. With another big money Nagaki city project in the pipeline, the state’s ecology is bound for more irreparable damage.
Let Dzükou be, let it remain remote and exotic. Let it be a destination for people with a genuine appreciation of the natural environment; for responsible visitors, who take the physical effort to trek, and camp out in the open without littering, not in the comfort of a luxury hotel.
Rather than selling luxury tourism and facilitating easy access, the government's priority should be on preserving the valley’s delicate ecosystem.
The day the proposed project gets sanctioned will be the end of Dzukou’s organic impression, a naturescape that is already feeling the effects of anthropogenic stress – piling plastic waste left behind by irresponsible trekkers, and unexplained wildfires – even in its relative remoteness.
A hotel in a wooded environment does not lend it the eco-friendly tag. Sustainable tourism in Dzükou’s context lies in preserving its solitude, not in drawing suicidal investment from Delhi just for advancing a government’s public image.
The writer is a Principal Correspondent at The Morung Express. Comments can be sent to imkongwalls@gmail.com
