Though the State Government has been claiming to have done everything to facilitate winter tourism in Uttarakhand, mismanagement in the mountainous regions is causing inconvenience to the tourists arriving here following snowfall. The flow of tourists to various destinations in the mountains has increased following snowfall in recent days but the facilitation claimed to have been put in place by the Government is not visible.
Snow on the Joshimath-Auli motor road is hampering the movement of tourists to Auli from here by road. With tourists being unable to reach Auli in their vehicles they are being forced to walk to Auli because the Joshimath-Auli ropeway has not yet started operating as desired. The authorities have not been able to facilitate the proper operation of this ropeway for about four years now in spite of the importance of Auli as a destination for tourists and winter sports enthusiasts.
The Tourism department was talking about resuming the operation of the ropeway some time ago but a technical snag encountered during the testing has meant that the facility could not yet been resumed. It should be mentioned here that snowfall has increased tourist footfalls at various places in the mountainous regions of Uttarakhand. The Chief Minister, Harish Rawat, has been harping on measures purportedly taken by the State Government to encourage tourism in the State during the winters to boost the local economy.
However, the authorities seem to be ignoring the lack of facilities and the resultant problems being faced by visitors at Auli. The vehicles of the tourists travelling by road to Auli are unable to progress beyond midway. The vehicles of the tourists are being parked midway and the visitors are walking to Auli from here. The departmental officials aver that the ropeway will become operational in the near future but observers remain skeptical as the authorities have failed to operate the ropeway regularly for about four years now.