Kochi: The High Court of Kerala on Friday, September 6, directed the government to find out the sustainable tourist level or "carrying capacity" for all hill stations in the state, and based on the data, regulate the "unbridled inflow of tourists" into hill destinations.

The Division Bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Syam Kumar V M gave the direction while hearing a suo moto petition on the prevention and management of natural disasters in Kerala against the backdrop of the landslides that killed around 400 people in Wayanad. "We are therefore of the view that estimation of carrying capacity and capping the number of vehicles and visitors entering the hill stations in our state is in the best interests of all," the order said.

The court also called for carrying out separate carrying capacity studies for protected areas and reserve forests in various districts. Areas with forests and wildlife are less tolerant to higher tourist intrusion, such as pollution and littering, and may trigger behavioural changes in animals, the court said.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), tourism carrying capacity is "the maximum number of people that may visit a tourist destination at the same time, without destroying the physical, economic, socio-cultural environment" and at the same time, without compromising on visitors' satisfaction.

The court held the view that the unregulated construction of buildings and earthworks is causing landslides in various locations. "The hill stations in Kerala are among the most sought-after tourist destinations in India and the increasing number of tourists and the corresponding unscientific infrastructure development in response to the same, pose a grave danger to the hill stations," the court said, calling for capping the number of tourists visiting hill stations.

Carrying capacity needs to be estimated under various heads such as physical, economic, socio-cultural, biophysical and ecological, to limit tourism influx to preserve the resources and the local economic and social viability, the judgment said.

The carrying capacity may be estimated using the available data with the district administrations, it said. They may use data such as footfall of tourists during peak and non-peak seasons; number of vehicles entering the district during peak and non-peak seasons; accommodation available (only those with legal permits to be counted); available parking space; availability of water in the district and based on that determine the water available to tourist facilities; waste collection and management infrastructure; and availability and capacity of effluent treatment facilities, the court said.

The court asked the state government to issue immediate directions to the district administrations to collect the data for hill stations. The district administrations must revert to the state government with the necessary data within three weeks from the receipt of the order. The state government should furnish the consolidated report before the court on or before October 25, the order said.