UPSC Mains 2015 GS1 Q17 — Tourism Ecological Impact

• Evidence of exceeding carrying capacity (e.g., landslides, glacial retreat, water crisis).
• Analysis of how mass tourism specifically triggers these ecological breaches.
• Counter-arguments or nuances (e.g., economic dependence, sustainable practices already in place).
• Policy interventions and the way forward for sustainable Himalayan tourism.

• Focusing only on recent disasters like Joshimath or Kedarnath without linking them specifically to tourism load.
• Treating the three states as a monolith instead of mentioning state-specific pressures (e.g., Char Dham in UK, over-tourism in Shimla/Manali, fragile ecology of Ladakh).
• Ignoring the 'Critically' part of the directive by failing to acknowledge the economic necessity of tourism for these states.
• Writing a generic essay on pollution instead of focusing on 'carrying capacity' metrics like waste management, infrastructure limits, and resource depletion.

Devote 40 words to defining carrying capacity and current manifestations of ecological stress. Allocate 80 words to the core evaluation of how tourism (construction, waste, traffic) drives this stress. Reserve 40 words for the critical counter-perspective on economic survival, and 40 words for a solution-oriented conclusion focusing on 'High Value, Low Volume' tourism.