6 Places To Visit In India Before They Disappear

William Shakespeare had once said – one touch of nature makes the whole world kin. It was Shakespeare who had also said – fishes live in the sea, as men do a-land; the great ones eat up the little ones. How ruthlessly true!! It’s so disheartening to see enthusiastic travelers are now searching for doom tourism on Google. To make it worse, there are several places in India that fall into this search. There are so many places around the country that are soon going to lose their beauty and no one would ever visit them again. And in most of these cases, it’s too late to do anything about it. Soon, these places will turn into ruins which only archaeology students would visit (heard of Mohen-jo-daro). Or worse, they will completely wipe off from the Indian map and we’ll forget about them. With a heavy heart, we’ve listed down Tourist Places in India.

# Chadar Trek Trail

For those who love trekking in the Himalayas, the frozen river of Zanskar and the Chadar trek trail is on the bucket list of every avid traveler. Those, who have already been to Leh, Ladakh, are quite aware of how Ladakh is a difficult place to be explored. While mountains are steep, winter shuts down many passes, thus leaving only ice-frozen rivers for the trekkers. Zanskar river is big and fast-flowing and is frozen most of the time. For most of its length, the river is confined within a steep canyon. The idea of walking over frozen river ice with a large backpack on your back could be risky. The hike from Chilling to the Zanskar valley takes more than a week, and at night, porters usually sleep in caves in the canyon walls.

# Hemis National Park

Fancy a chance encounter with one of the most elusive animals in the world – the Snow Leopard? If yes, then head to the stunning Hemis National Park, the Himalayan natural sanctuary which is now on the verge of no life, thanks to our destructive approach towards Mother Nature. We had to include this Himalayan sanctuary in our list of doom tourism: 10 places in India to visit before they disappear. It soon will be erased from our maps and we’ll lose one of the best places to interact with nature.

# Valley of Flowers

Valley of Flowers is a jaw-dropping national park tucked away in West Himalayas and is included in doom tourism. It is located 300 kms from Rishikesh near Badrinath. Nestled in Uttarakhand, this alluring place is famous for its breathtaking scenic beauties of meadows of alpine flowers. Flanked by a diverse range of endemic flora, the coming generations may not be lucky enough to witness this picturesque valley. This lush valley is also home to some rare and endangered animal species such as Asiatic black deer, snow leopard, musk deer, red fox, brown bear, and blue sheep.

# The fast disappearing Wular Lake

Here is another beautiful place from Jammu & Kashmir that is included in doom tourism. The vast and beautiful Wular Lake is an extension of the Jhelum River in Jammu and Kashmir and is considered to be one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia. It is situated 60 km from Srinagar and is flanked by magnificent mountains and beautiful trees like coniferous pine, apple, and walnut, adding a sublime touch to the ambiance.

Historical sources reveal that in the 15th century, King Zain-ul-abidin (also known as Akbar of Kashmir) had set up an artificial island called Zaina Lanka amidst the lake, which provided shelter to the boatmen during heavy rainfall and storms. Its remains can still be seen in the lake.

# Dachigam National Park

Home to the Kashmiri Red Stag, the only surviving sub-species of the Red Deer family, Dachigam National Park is also among the top 10 places in India to visit before they disappear. This park is located 22 km from Srinagar. The name of this park refers to the ten villages, which were relocated in order to create this park.

The Park harbors the last viable population of the endangered Hangul or Kashmir Stag. Known for its magnificent antlers with 11 to 16 points, Kashmir Red Stag or hangul was once distributed widely in the mountains of Kashmir. During the 1940s, their number was believed to be about 3,000-5,000. As per the latest census in 2008, only around 160 exist. However, the number has gone up to 300 now, but it is still too less. And with growing development in the areas nearby to Srinagar, the Kashmir Red Stag is soon going to lose its natural habitat, no matter its numbers.

# Bhitarkanika Mangrove

Steeped in the richness of biodiversity, Bhitarkanika Mangrove is a mangrove wetland located in Odisha and is the second largest mangrove forest, after Sundarbans in India. Even though Bhitarkanika is one of nature’s most serene creations – a true spectacle to behold; this natural heritage site is among the doom tourism places in India.

Odisha Govt. is hopeful of getting this wetland listed in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Brahmani, Baitarni and Mahanadi deltaic regions make up the Bhitarkanika Conservation Area. The wetland comprises 3 protected areas, namely “Bhitarkanika National Park”, “Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary” and “Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary”. A mangrove wetland having high genetic and ecological diversity, Bhitarkanika covers a total area of 2154.26 sq. Km. of which Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park covers 672 sq. km. and the Gahirmatha (Marine) Wildlife Sanctuary covers 1435 sq. km.