After the Pahalgam terror attack, the disruption of traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway due to damage caused by heavy monsoon rains in August has badly hurt the economy of Kashmir.
Hundreds of tourists fled Kashmir hours after the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that left 26 people, mostly tourists from different parts of India, dead.
After the attack, thousands of bookings by people who had planned to visit Kashmir were cancelled. The move dealt a blow to the hopes of hoteliers, houseboats and transporters of a potentially packed season.
As a consequence, thousands of jobs were lost in the tourism and allied sectors. The handicrafts sector also suffered a dent due to the absence of tourists, leaving their stocks unsold. Efforts by the Centre, Jammu and Kashmir government and tour operators from Kashmir and across India succeeded in attracting tourists back to the Valley, but not in big numbers.
Hoteliers say a hint of revival was witnessed during the 39–day Amarnath yatra between July 3 and August 9.
“Some yatris, after completing their yatra, spent a few days in Kashmir and went sightseeing,” said Abdul Basit, a hotelier near Dal Lake. “But the monsoon rains and death of more than 100 pilgrims due to cloudbursts and landslides in Kishtwar and Katra, threw a spanner in the arrival of tourists afresh.”
He said the floods, caused by heavy monsoon rain, ravaged Jammu and Kashmir and inundated several areas, worsening the situation.
“The flooding of large swathes in Jammu and damage to infrastructure further dented the tourist confidence to visit Kashmir,” he said. “Currently, we are offering huge discounts, but the occupancy is less than half.”
An employee of Hotel Sunshine at Dal said they were offering rooms for Rs 1,500 due to zero occupancy. “The same room during the good times would fetch Rs 8,000 and above,” he said. “First it was the Pahalgam attack, then Operation Sindoor, and now the disruption of traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu highway have scared potential tourists from visiting Kashmir.”
Nearby, a female official of Hotel Paradise Premium, a four-star property, said all their 30-plus rooms were without any guests.
“We used to receive requests for advance bookings, but currently, our hotel is empty,” she said. Another property adjacent to the hotel was offering rooms for less than Rs 2,000.
A similar situation exists at Hotel Shah Abbas, one of the attractions on the banks of Dal Lake.
“The business has taken a hit,” said a staff member at the reception. “It started with the Pahalgam attack, followed by destruction caused by the floods and the shutting down of the Srinagar-Jammu national highway.”
The houseboat owners and shikara operators in Dal Lake painted an equally distressing picture.
“Earlier, the disruption was caused by strikes and agitations, killings of civilians, now it’s the weather that has played a spoilsport,” said a houseboat owner.
The highway disruption has also inflicted huge losses on apple farmers, as thousands of fruit-laden trucks remain stuck for days. “We are facing the worst crisis in years. Apples rot inside trucks as they are stranded on the highway. Each day of delay means crores of rupees in losses,” said Bashir Ahmad Basheer, president of the Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Union.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has twice visited the damaged stretches of the highway, urging the Centre to ensure stranded trucks are cleared. He spoke to Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, who later held a video meeting with officials to speed up restoration work.
Fruit growers have already staged a two-day strike, accusing the government of failing to protect their livelihood by allowing unhindered movement of trucks to Jammu and Delhi.