Dehradun: Year 2020 would go down as one of the darkest years in the history of mankind that slowed down or rather brought the world to a halt. Corona Virus that first surfaced in Wuhan, China took a grip on 213 countries in a quick span of 3 months. Every nook and corner of the world is struggling to come in terms with the pandemic that struck them physically, mentally and most importantly financially.
Even though every sector is incurring huge losses due to the lockdown, it is the Travel and Tourism Industry that is bearing the brunt of this pandemic, the most.
Uttarakhand has long been a witness to traffic jams, pilgrims flooding the Ghats, road side vendors selling attractive items, restaurants and dhabas brimming with customers, taxis ferrying people to and fro from ‘Char Dham Yatra’ and hotels being overbooked from mid - March till the onset of winters. All these wear a deserted look this year ever since the lockdown began on 23rd March.
The state previously had suffered massively post the Kedarnath floods when the tourism and hospitality sector which adds close to 30-35 per cent of Uttarakhand's GDP, plummeted.
The authorities say that this pandemic has hit them even worse than the Kedarnath disaster. Massive construction of roads for the smooth conduct of Chaar Dham Yatra was done this year due to which Haridwar and Rishikesh, the cities that fall in the middle of the Yatra were expected to have the maximum footfall.
Anand Sharma, the manager of Hotel Anand in Haridwar had earlier anticipated that after the huge amount of investment made by the government in making the infrastructure better, the hotels in Haridwar would have generated good revenue this year. His hopes however turned into disappointment when the lockdown was announced. As the hotels were no longer open and operating, most of the hotel staff (almost 99%) was laid off by the owners due to their incapacity of paying them in this scenario of zero earning.
The Kumbh Mela which is going to be held early next year is already in jeopardy. People had made sizeable investments well in advance and were pinning hopes on making Kumbh Mela a massive success.
Even though the local authorities have laid down specific and strict safety and hygiene rules ranging from thermal checking to regular sanitization of the hotels, the footfall would certainly be not what they had anticipated earlier. Hence even the Kumbh Mela may not help the local people in covering their losses met during the lockdown.
Mussourie being a hill station provides respite from the scorching heat of the plains and thus witnesses an influx of tourists during the months of March, April, May and June. The lockdown brought their revenues to a standstill. With no inflow of money, many small hotels fear that they might never come out of the losses incurred during Covid-19. The expenses like rents, electricity bill, water bill, municipality taxes still loom over them and they are in anguish because of the neglect the government is showing towards them. The condition is equally grim of hill stations like Auli, Kanatal, Chamba, Nainital, Almora and others in the vicinity which are totally dependent on the tourists for their economy.
Other victims of this pandemic hit have been the dhaba owners and the restaurants whose plight are falling on deaf ears. They are running out of money and fear that sustenance would soon be a problem for them as they hear in the news that tourism would not revive even in the coming months. Their pleadings aren’t heard by many because the catastrophe has hit so many people that help isn’t reaching on each and every doorstep in time.
More heart-wrenching stories flowing in are of the taxi drivers who for years have been dependent on the Char Dham Yatra or provided services to tourists headed towards hill station. They requested to waive off the road tax and interest on installments and are pleading for a special relief package from the government for meeting their ends and feeding their families. Till now nothing on the ground has been done to provide a support or relief to them. They made a whooping amount of 70,000 – 80,000 in a single season which used to help them in paying off the EMI’s of their vehicle and car insurance, which is now a matter of grave concern for them as their vehicles could be impounded by the banks in case of non-repayment of loans.
In Uttarakhand, the days ahead are challenging, turbulent and unpredictable for the people who are dependent on Travel and Tourism Industry for their livelihood.
The state has innumerable holy places that are flooded with people who come here for peace, tranquility or for religious and spiritual reasons. With parameters like social distancing, mask- wearing and sanitizing ourselves every now and then; whether normalcy will return or not is a big question currently.
The Gods are closed in the shrines and people are locked in the houses because the contagious disease is on a rampage and taking lives of people all across the globe.
Everyone is afraid and this fear looms even more over the future of the Travel and Tourism Industry which seems to be far away right now from witnessing its glory days again!
