The cancellation of the Corbett Mahotsav in Ramnagar on Thursday following strong opposition from locals has once again exposed the impractical planning of the State Tourism and Culture Minister Amrita Rawat who is known more for aping concepts from other States and abroad instead of capitalising on what Uttarakhand has.
Noted singers and performers had been invited to perform in the Corbett Mahotsav even though the locals had been opposing it for various reasons.
The festival was purportedly aimed at reviving the tourism sector of the State where tourist footfalls have decreased substantially
since disaster struck Uttarakhand in June.
Those opposed to the event had also staged a protest on September 27 against the fest slated to be inaugurated on October 3.
They had also submitted a memorandum to Garhwal MP and Rawat’s husband Satpal Maharaj stating their demands.
However, the Minister, who is also the Ramnagar MlA, ignored the memo and was about to inaugurate the festival on Thursday, when she was forced to announce its cancellation in view of public protest.
The protesters are demanding redressal of human-wildlife conflict, cancellation of the eco-sensitive zone around Corbett Tiger Reserve, construction of Ramnagar-Kalagarh-Kotdwar motor road and conversion of forest villages into revenue villages among other demands.
They were of the view that at a time when the disaster affected people of the State are struggling to survive, holding such events is not proper.
The Minister first ignored the Opposition but was forced to cancel the event when
confronted by the protesters, who relented only after she assured to arrange their meeting with the Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna.
MP Satpal Maharaj has stated that citizens have the right to protest in a democracy but they must realise that funds received for tourism and cultural activities cannot be used for disaster relief and must be used only for tourism and cultural activities.