The Avian flu scare at Sukhna lake has severely affected the tourism Industry of the City Beautiful. The numbers of foreign and domestic tourists are decreasing due to the scare. Figures revealed that in the previous years, Chandigarh used to get a good number of foreign tourists in the winters but not this time round. In January 2012, there were 2,472 foreign tourists, the figure increased to 2,677 in 2013 and 2074 in 2014. But this January, only 950 foreign tourists came in January after the avian flu outbreak in December 2014.
Tourist Information Centre at the Capitol Complex confirmed that they received less entry of foreigners in the month of December and January as compared to the previous years. “We received only 1,282 foreign tourists in the month of December 2014 and only 950 in January”, said Nishant Katoch, information Assistant of the centre. The period from October to February suits foreign tourists who use Chandigarh as transit point to visit Golden Temple Amritsar, Manali or McleodGanj in Himachal Pradesh or to various places in Rajasthan and Agra.
"Avian flu scare affected tourism in Chandigarh drastically." added Rajinder Singh, an official, tourist guide for foreign tourists. “I received only two calls from foreigners in the month of November and none in December and January. They used to engage me as a tourist guide here”, said Singh.
Another official tourist guide in the Tourism department of Chandigarh- Udhay Singh Thakur said, “I am still waiting for call of tourists. I didn’t get any call for tourist guide service in December and January, except getting only two calls in month of November”. Katoch said even tourists from India are missing this winter. “We used to get at least 80 to 100 students groups from South India and Maharashtra here in the months of December, January and February each for the past several years, especially for capitol complex, but for the past two months I haven't got sufficient entries from those groups," he said.
Though Sukhna lake was opened on January 19 for the general public after a month of closure,people are yet to be fully assured. Even the regular morning walkers are absent due to the scare and may return to the lake only after a few weeks. Sukhna lake was shut for avian flu threat on December 16 last year following a sample of dead goose testing positive for the virus. Due to the bird flu scare the 100-odd geese reared in the lake sanctuary had to be culled and have been buried on the island of the lake itself. The administration has also carried out a door-to door survey of the households with a three-kilometre radius of the sanctuary, to check for symptoms of flu.