Tourism Comes To Grinding Halt In Kashmir newsclick.in

Since Parliament unilaterally withdrew the special status and reorganized Jammu and Kashmir state into two federally governed union territories on August 5, the tourism sector has come to a grinding halt. The hotels and restaurants at all the tourist destinations are out of business and locked. In a region where nearly one-third of the population is associated with the tourism industry, Kashmir is seeing the footfalls of the tourists disappearing and people associated with the industry have no hopes of a revival.

Ghulam Nabi, 53, a shikara [a type of wooden boat] owner looks downcast. He has not earned anything in the last 15 days, which has made it difficult for him to make ends meet. He has been running his shikari in the famous Dal Lake for the last 30 years and has never before faced such a situation. “I have never faced bad times. I used to earn Rs. 500-600 per day, but have not earned a single rupee in the last two weeks. I have never seen such a situation here,” he said, adding that the state has witnessed worse crises before, but the government has never issued an advisory to leave the Valley.

The lake where Nabi operates from is missing the usual buzz and the famous boulevard road circling the lake is silent and deserted. The shikaris, which used to ferry tourists, have been either converted into fishing boats or are moored at different places of the lake. The hotels and restaurants located near the lake are padlocked, and their staff members can be seen passing time by playing cricket or cards.