The owners of beach camps and rafting businesses have demanded that the State Government should allot beach camps on river Ganga as the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has cleared 25 places for holding beach camps. Addressing media persons here on Wednesday, the president of the State Tourism Outfitters Association, Devender Rawat said that the NGT imposed a blanket ban on beach camps on June 2015, later when the ban was contested by the association, it on March 2017 found 25 places suitable for holding camps.
He said that after this decision the State Government should have allotted these sites but it had nothing in this direction yet. Rawat said that for last two years, all beach camps are closed and all those associated with them have become unemployed.
The State Government should now ensure that these camps are revived. The President of the association said, “The State Government imposed a tax on rafting in 2009 but it was withdrawn by the Government in the year 2012 on the grounds that it is adventure tourism.
However in the year 2014 the tax was re imposed. A meeting was held on June 06, 2016 in which the Chief Minister ordered abolishment of the tax but the senior officials are sitting on the order and no Government Order (GO) is released yet.’’
The association accepted that more than 500 illegal rafts are operating in Ganga. The President of the association said that there is an urgent need to stop operation of these illegal rafts. He said that for safe rafting the tourists should only board those rafts which are issued permits.
There are more 269 rafting companies are operating in Ganga and there are 576 rafts which are having permits. The rafting companies directly employ thousand of local people and migration is less the villages where these rafts are operating.
The general secretary of the association Dinesh Kathait and Manjul Rawat were also present on the occasion.