Birat
Anupam
Itahari,
April 17 (RSS): TMJ,
an abbreviation form of Tinjure Milke Jaljale, which is referred to as 'capital
of rhododendron' owing to the availability
of 28 of 32 specifies of rhododendron found in Nepal, has witnessed footfall of
more than 30,000 visitors on the eve of New Nepali Year of 2079 BS. According
to Chief District Officer of Tehrathum, Anoj Kumar Ghimire, who was present
in-person at Basantapur bazaar which is the gateway to TMJ, there were more
than 30,000 visitors from many districts of Nepal. Prakash Shrestha, the owner
of Hotel Basantapur Views, seconded CDO's estimation. He said, ''In previous
year, the figure was close to one lakh. This year, this was downsized to around
30,000.''
As TMJ gets promising
volume of visitors during during new year celebration, stakeholders voice
concerns on lack of monetization of
these traveler. ''If there were footfall of 30,000 visitors in a single day,
that means one thousand rupees spent on an individual basis amounts to Rs. 30
million which is not spent on TMJ areas'', claims Binod Bhattarai, a local
journalist. ''There needs to be more voluntary spending avenues for traveler on
various activities as we have seen in Sikkim and Drgeeling which is akin to TMJ
im terms of topography'', said Bhattarai. He added, ''just 100-percent hotel
occupancy in Basantapur, Lasune, Myanglung, Chauki, Mangalbare and
Guphapokhari, among others, are not enough.'' Santosh Niraula, a young traveller from
Itharai to TMJ, said more human-made activities and varieties are needed to
monetize TMJ zone for visitors.
''If this natural beauty
is not monetized by human-made attractive touristic activities, it will have
nothing to do with touristic return not only to the locals but also to the
tourism entrepreneurs of the locality'', said Niraula which is also a tourism
promoter of TMJ by printing TMJ-themed T-shirts . He added, ''For this, local
and provincial government need to encourage both private and public
investment.''
Declared in 1997 as
National Rhododendron Environmental Conservation Area by Nepal's Ministry of
Population and Environment, TMJ now coves 15 percent rhododendron forest
area. According to a 'Fact Sheet' of
IUCN, TMJ spans over 585.26 square kilometre with an altitude variation from
1700 meter to 5000 meters. As Nepali New Year generally coincides with the
flowering time of rhododendron, hundreds of people throng to places where
rhododendron is bloomed in new year eve. Rhododendron is Nepal's national
flower. Due to this official status, rhododendron tourism is bloomed at TMJ
areas which is also home to 32 Himalayan ponds and lots of floral and fauna diversities.