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KARGIL/ DRASS: Though the tension, at least at the diplomatic level, between India and Pakistan have died down to a considerable extent, particularly in the last few weeks, tourism in the Valley continues to be at a low. Heavy shelling from across the border continues to keep the tourists away from its splendid beauty that makes it a natural tourist spot.
Described as one of the most beautiful places in the world, Kashmir has been virtually deserted by tourists, both foreign and domestic. The situation turned worse during the past seven months, which saw deployment of over half a million troops along the border areas. Hoteliers and restaurants in Kargil say there are remote chances of revival of the tourism industry, which has been in the doldrums since 1989 when militant activities took the shape of an armed insurgency. Fida Ali, a hotelier, said, "We have 45 rooms here of which nly two are occupied. When people hear noise of shelling here, they run away. Secondly, the Srinagar-Kargil road, which brings tourists here, is seeing a lot of shelling these days ... there is a lot of shelling in Drass as well. Because of all this, the tourists are keeping themselves away". Taxi operators also say that ever since the recent round of cross-border shelling began, their business has come to a halt. Mohammad Sadiq Jalwa, a taxi driver, said, "Because of shelling, the number of tourists has gone down. This year we have heard that the foreign tourists to the state are not venturing in Ladakh".
Tourism received another blow when several Western nations, including the US, UK, France, Australia, Japan and Russia, asked their citizens not to visit the state. District tourist officer Mohammad Hassan said, "Ever since the European countries called back their citizens declaring this area as unsafe, tourism has suffered a lot. The number of German tourists was maximum ... we also had the French and Japanese. But none of them has come since their governments advised them against travel here". According to him, maximum cancellations have come through travel agencies which had booked a large number of tourists in various hotels. This year tourism will be nil here till the European countries declare the area safe for their tourists, he added. The number of tourists plunged to 72,000, mainly Indians, last year from more than half a million at the start of the 1990s. The first three months of the current year had just 1700 visitors, out of whom 571 were foreigners. According to the hoteliers, most of those who visited were journalists or aid workers. -ANI |
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