JOIN USSlump in tourist arrivals in J&K force ‘Shikara wallas’ of Dal Lake to switch jobs
With the tourism industry passing through a slump as few visitors make Kashmir their destination, only 400 shikaras (boats) out of 4,500 are rowing out in the famous Dal Lake in Srinagar forcing shikara wallas to switch to other jobs to earn their livelihood.
There are almost 4,500 registered shikaras that would row in Dal and neighbouring Nigeen Lake. But at present, only 400 shikaras are rowing in Dal Lake that too against the 50% discount rate.
With the negligible flow of domestic and foreign tourists post abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 last year, the livelihood of Shikara owners has been badly hit leaving them with no choice but to switch to other jobs like selling vegetables, fruit or going for day-long labour to make both ends meet.
Prior to the August 5 decision, the Centre issued an advisory on August 3 asking all tourists and Amarnath pilgrims to leave Kashmir immediately.
Mohammad Shafi, 53, who plies shikara on the Dal, is distressed. “Such slump is being witnessed for the first time since the early 1990s when militancy broke out in Kashmir. Many Shikara owners are in the process of selling their boats while others have switched over to other businesses to feed their families,” he told DH.
“Many of us are selling vegetables, fruit and dozens of us are going for daily labour to sustain their living,” he said. “All of us have families. I have not been able to pay electricity duty for the past five months. You can imagine the nature of the losses we have faced and the situation we are going through.” Wali hoped that in the coming months, if all goes well and if peace prevails, tourist footfall is expected to increase.
His colleague, Mohammad Abdullah, interjects. “First, the devastating floods in 2014 and then 2016 summer unrest happened. Then last February, Pulwama terror attack frightened tourists. But the August 3 government advisory came like bolt from the blue. Now no tourist is ready to come here and we are earning nothing,” he laments.
Only tourists from some countries are coming, he says pointing to two visitors from Southeast Asia. In recent years, tourists from the region have been visiting Kashmir in significant numbers.
Athar Qadri, a tour operator says the drop in tourist arrivals since August is unprecedented. “A negative perception has been created that this place is not safe. The absence of tourists has nothing to do with the recession in the economy. Other tourist destinations are thriving. Why would the recession hit us alone?” he asks.
People associated with tourism in the Valley compare the present crisis to that of the early 90s. In 1988, 7.22 lakh tourists, including 59,938 from abroad, came to Kashmir. In 1990, as insurgency broke out in the Valley, the number of tourists went down to 10,772 which went further down to 8,520 in 1995.
By 2005, the revival started when 5.86 lakh tourists visited Kashmir and in 2011 the number touched 12.82 lakh. Despite unrest in 2016, nearly 12 lakh tourists visited Kashmir the next year.