In the fourth week during April, when tourists were thronging Kashmir in large numbers, a good number of them were there for visiting the Tulip Garden. At that time, it was the prime attraction drawing tourists in hordes from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and far-off places. This park inaugurated in March 2008 had started drawing by them to Kashmir in March itself, thereby extending the tourist season.
The Tulip Garden was to close on April 24 and a couple of days before that the macabre Baisaran (Pahalgam) massacre of Hindu tourists happened. In a span of hours, all tourists panicked, leaving the Kashmir valley by road as also by all available flights. The flight rates to all destinations leaving Srinagar shot up as incoming aircraft to Kashmir were all empty, except for some stray passengers.
The brutal massacre of two dozen Hindu tourists from all over India by Pakistan-backed terrorists led to most economic activity in Kashmir coming to an abrupt, unnatural halt. There were mass cancellations for the summer vacations, with hotels, houseboats and guest houses leading to zero footfalls. In the aftermath of the deadly terrorist strike, the poor, ordinary Kashmiris were the worst sufferers as all businesses came to a halt.
In the wake of the terrorist strike, the government immediately declared many places as a no-go area, out of bounds for tourists. Beautiful places like Kokernag and Achabal parks with perennial water streams, and some others like that, went out of business. Even as the summer vacations at most places are about to end, Vande Bharat trains from Katra to Srinagar (and back) have restored some semblance of economic activity.
Encouraged by the moving in of additional security forces, particularly BSF and CRPF units, to take care of the security of the Amarnath pilgrims, the government has now decided to gradually open many of these closed parks & other destinations. In the next few days, within this week, at least 16 tourist destinations that had been shut down will open up again. Pahalgam has already started seeing some footfalls as officials start making preparations for the Amarnath pilgrimage that starts on July 3 and ends on August 9 (Shravan Purnima).
Many tourist destinations in the Jammu region lie Sarthal and Dhaggar in Kathua, Devipindi, Siyad Baba and Sula Park in Reasi, Guldanda and Jai valley in Doda, and Pancheri in Udhampur have also been opened up, after orders from Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. In the Kashmir region, Beetab Valley and parks near Pahalgam market, Verinag, Kokernag and Achabal gardens, Badamwari Park, Duck Park near Nigeen and Taqdeer Park near Hazratbal will be opened in the phase in the first phase.
This has been welcomed by tour operators and others associated with the trade saying the past few weeks had been sheer hell as work ground to a halt after the April 22 terrorist strikes. Operation Sindoor, launched on May 6 and which lasted less than four days before a ceasefire was declared, also badly impacted the tourism in Jammu & Kashmir. The hoteliers in Katra also reported several cancellations with almost zero footfalls being recorded for some days.
In the last 10 days, after the inauguration of Vande Bharat to Srinagar from Katra by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, things have started looking up. The Amarnath yatra may also improve the footfalls in many tourist destinations as many pilgrims often combine this pilgrimage with some visits to tourist destinations. Mr Sinha had gone to the holy Shri Amarnath cave on Jyeshtha Purnima some days ago via the Baltal route. He thus became the first ever Chairman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) to use this route, which passes from Sonamarg in Ganderbal district, to reach the cave.
With gradual opening of various tourist destinations in a phased manner, the ordinary Kashmiris, whose livelihood was snatched away by the terrorist strike, may get some succour.
