Herbal tourism: A novel way to market herbs, heritage

New Delhi: Taking a cue from China, which has a vast base of herbal exports, India’s health ministry is pursuing an ambitious proposal to popularise herbs by constructing herbal parks at famous heritage sites.

ROYAL TREATMENT...

The ministry is working on a project of making medicinal plants gardens at historical sites in collaboration with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Indian System of Medicine and Homeopathy (ISM&H) and some oil producing public sector undertakings.

“There are thousands of historical sites in the country, and many have ample wastelands. With the help of ASI and ministry of tourism, we can go ahead with the project”, say health ministry sources adding that ASI and ministry of tourism have already agreed “in principle” to the proposal.

Besides the proposed herbal gardens, therapy centres would also be established if we (ministry) find ample space for the purpose, says an official of the ministry adding that the ministry would also make available some funds for the purpose.

The ministry has proposed famous historical places like Kumhrar, Vikramshila, Nalanda, Konark, Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Varanasi which have sprawling areas (10-250 acres) for this dream project.

Kumhrar, known as the site of Dhanvantari, the first exponent of Ayurveda also revered as god of health, would be the place where the herbal park is to be built, and an announcement to this effect is likely to be made on the forthcoming independence day, he says.
According to Komal Anand, Director General of ASI, Kumhrar will be the only exception among the sites which will be spread over huge areas. At Kumhrar the site is just 2,000 sq mtrs, she says.
“Although, we have a plan to establish a therapy centre too alongwith the garden but due to lack of space we cannot materialise it,” says the health ministry official.

According to him the Union Health Minister CP Thakur has written separate letters to Tourism Minister Ananth Kumar, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik and other concerned authorities in this concern.

The basic idea is to conserve and promote the rich heritage of herbal plants in the country, make people aware of it and to promote tourism at all these kind of historical sites, he explains.

But even as the health ministry is upbeat about the proposal and claims that preparations are on, the ASI as well as Indian System of Medicine and Homeopathy do not share the enthusiasm.

Both Ms Shailaja Chandra, Secretary of ISM&H and Komal Anand, say that the proposal is just on a preparatory level and they are looking at the possibility of the proposal.

Dr SK Sharma, advisor-ayurveda at ISM&H, says a lot of space is needed to develop medicinal plants gardens but the historical sites, that have been proposed barely have an acre of land, where one can neither grow medicinal plants garden nor run a therapy centre as proposed.

Moreover, these historical sites are also important tourist destinations. So, entry of common people cannot be restricted. “We cannot expect a garden of delicate and rare species of medicinal plants at such places,” he says.

There are more than 30,000 species of the Indian medicinal plants all of which cannot be represented in those gardens, he adds.

But plants, which have medicinal as well as ornamental values can be cultivated at those sites despite the lack of space, says Dr Sharma suggesting that it can also be done by ASI’s own horticulture department which can take care of conservation as well as awareness about the heritage.

Mr AC Grover, director-conservation at ASI, who is unaware about the proposal, says that beautification of those historical sites would help to attract tourists as well as conserve the site, besides making the surroundings more conducive and decrease pollution levels.

Mr Grover points that there are more than 30,000 historical sites in the country, only 3,600 sites of which are under direct supervision of ASI while some more are maintained by the state archaeology departments.

ASI has recently signed an MoU with some private companies including Tata, Taj Group and Oberoi for maintenance of some historical sites. With an annual budget of Rs 145 crore, ASI is looking for agencies for participation in the development of historical sites and for more funds, Mr Grover said.

“We are aware of ASI’s concern, so we are making available funds too, to the ASI. The project will not only raise awareness among the people and conserve the medicinal heritage but it can prove to be a big foreign earning venture too,” says the health ministry official.
China is the best example in this concern. It has only four eco-climatic zones but a big part of foreign revenue comes via export of herbal medicine, while India has over 32 eco-climatc zones yet we have not exploited this climatic richness”, he said, noting that proper planning and honest implementation are needed in this area.

-- PTI