Covid-19 resurgence causes steep decline in pilgrimage traffic to Vaishno Devi shrine

The shrine receives more than nine million visitors annually

Covid-19 resurgence has caused a steep decline in pilgrimage traffic to the hilltop temple of Mata Vaishno Devi in the Katra area of Jammu with a few hundred pilgrims visiting the shrine daily from the peak of 30000.

An official of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board that manages the affairs of the temple said it is just a few hundred pilgrims who manage to reach Katra (the base camp of the shrine) amid the prevailing Covid-19 crisis.

The shrine, located 60 km north of Jammu, overlooking the Chenab river, receives more than nine million visitors annually.

The hoteliers, transporters, labourers and other businessmen associated with the pilgrimage, who were already reeling under the impact of last year’s Covid-19 lockdown are now bracing for the dry summer season ahead due to declining numbers of pilgrims.

The hoteliers are struggling to sustain themselves in the absence of the presence of pilgrims in Katra. The local markets selling dry fruits, handicrafts, and other products are also taking a major hit due to declining numbers.

Varinder Kesar, Katra Head of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that from over 30000, the pilgrimage has now reduced to a three-digit number due to which the business in the hill town has badly shattered leaving many people jobless.

“Over one lakh persons ranging from horse and mule owners to the employees at big hotels are left unemployed as their incomes were directly linked with the number of visiting pilgrims at the cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi Ji,” he said.

Last year, the yatra was suspended after the outbreak of the pandemic on March 16. However, after a five-month hiatus, the yatra resumed on August 16, but in a regulated manner. Initially, the shrine board had fixed a cap of 2,000 pilgrims per day. Later, as the situation improved, the ceiling was increased from time to time.

President Katra Hotels and Restaurants Association, Rakesh Wazir said, while the first wave of Covid-19 had inflicted heavy losses to them, the second wave is proving more disastrous. “Profits of the hotel industry dipped to a minus level as running expenses like power and water bills, salaries to employees etc have to be met even when business is staying at zero,” he said.

“As 98% of the hotels at Katra are closed, the remaining two per cent are working with minimum staff with some only having the security staff while about 35,000 persons working in hotels, guest houses, restaurants and inns at Katra have been left unemployed,” Wazir added.

Similar is the fate of shopkeepers selling dry fruit, whose stocks worth crores of rupees rotted due to the closure of shops last year. “Though last year the traders tolerated heavy losses, this time losses are pushing us to depression,” said a dry fruit shop owner.