How religious tourism affects water security in the pilgrimage town Vrindavan, India

Abstract

This paper analyses how religious tourism affects water security in the pilgrimage town Vrindavan, in India. I used qualitative methods to show how the rapid influx of visitors exerts immense pressure on the infrastructure of the town and thus increases the population’s vulnerability to water scarcity. The empirical data consists mainly of observations and interactions with the local population at the site and is complemented with secondary data from relevant literature, news articles, government reports and census data. To assess how and to what extent tourism is affecting the water availability in Vrindavan, a framework by Gössling et al. (2012), is used, which looks at the i) spatial and temporal aspects of water use, ii) changes in water quality, and iii) competing water uses. The results show that tourism is substantially contributing to a decrease in water quality and quantity which threatens the water security of the town. The town's infrastructure developments and civic services are unable to support the high floating population which in turn leads to water pollution and decreased water supply. With climate change decreasing rainfall and the state of Uttar Pradesh further increasing the number of domestic visitors, through policies and tourism developments, pilgrimage towns such as Vrindavan are in a vulnerable position. Especially the poor are affected by the negative environmental consequences of tourism. Results have also found that the unsustainable tourism practices in Vrindavan conflict with the Sustainable Development Goals 3, 6, 11, 14 and 15. Immediate action to decrease the population’s vulnerability to water scarcity is advised by better regulating the tourist sector and investing in infrastructure developments that decrease groundwater depletion and pollution.