Weekly weekend exodus alarms environmentalists in Bombay

For the residents of Bombay, getting away from the city has always been a matter of necessity rather than choice. The cramped confines of high-rise apartments have provoked a weekly weekend exodus for as long as people can remember. But the hordes that head for the open spaces have grown at a rate that, while it cheers the hearts of hotel and restaurant operators, has alarmed environmentalists in the crowded city.

Elephanta Island, the most accessible picnic spot around the city caters to record crowds every weekend: the tally in 1978-79 was 2,14,974 tourists, in 1979-80 it was 3,21,209, and the figure is expected to rise to well over four lakh for the current year. Borivli National Park and the Powai and Virar lakes teem with people every Sunday. The beaches of Juhu and Madh are so jam-packed that the spill-over goes all the way to Manori, Aksa, Alibag, Kihim and Tithal, some of which are over 100 km away.

"Bombay has always been a picnicking city," says Mrs S. Jagannathan, regional director of the Government of India Tourist Office, "but the trend today is of staying overnight in places outside the city, while earlier people only went for one-day trips and picnics." Inevitably, a host of small hotels, guest-houses and rental homes have sprung up in the hill-stations and beach resorts within commuting distance of the city, including the 24 hotels already in operation in the hill resorts of Lonavala and Khandala.