Meghalaya may soon crack down on roadside cooks, mainly those tourists who prefer to eat what they have made themselves rather than buy from restaurants, dhabas and dukan ja.
A proposal to this effect was made on Wednesday by the Tour Operators Association of Meghalaya and Meghalaya Rural Tourism Forum to the state Tourism Minister.
According to them, there are too many tourists who come to Meghalaya and bring their own food and cooking equipment, prepare meals at tourist spots and leave without spending money at local establishments, while also adding to the burden of waste management.
There are several problems with this proposal.
First off, it is not just tourists who like to cook their own food. Many of the people who cook at waterfalls, viewpoints and picnic spots are domestic families, students, church groups and local residents on day trips. They travel on a budget, carry food from home and cannot afford meals at restaurants or stays at hotels for every outing.
Secondly, there are dietary restrictions to consider. India is a land of a million faiths and a corresponding number of food dos and don’ts. As Meghalaya’s tourism profile has grown, options for vegetarians and what have you have also increased but this is not the case throughout the state.
Waste management is a real problem but it is a problem not limited to tourists who cook. There is no bar on litter, whether one is a tourist or a local, tribal or non-tribal, educated or illiterate, upper class or poor. If there are designated picnic and cooking zones, then waste could be better managed but if the state capital has still not gotten a grip on its own garbage, then perhaps this will be a problem for a long while yet in tourist areas.
And then there is the myth of the “high-value” tourist. Only a few of these would spend the equivalent of tens or dozens of low value visitors to the state. Meghalaya could be the next Bhutan or Maldives or some such place. Do they not produce waste? Rich people are responsible for more plastic trash, greenhouse gas emissions and food waste per head than a poor person. More pertinent to discuss is waste management systems more generally in the state; even in parts of Shillong garbage trucks visit certain neighbourhoods only once a week. How are rural folk meant to properly get rid of their garbage other than burning it?
And if these high-flying tourists come to Meghalaya, how much do they contribute to the livelihood of a dukan ja owner? How much of a trickle down effect is there really when they spend thousands on some very bland food in the many luxury resorts that have popped up in and around Sohra? Let us not point fingers only at those who want to cook for themselves at a picnic spot.
