Notwithstanding the strict restrictions, business was brisk at the taxi stand at the Srinagar International Airport on Saturday as Kashmiris from other parts of the country and abroad were returning home for Eid, but apprehensions remained about the coming days. According to taxi operators and other stakeholders of the tourism industry, their business will suffer till normalcy returns to Kashmir and tourists are drawn back.
Heightened restrictions were imposed in Kashmir Valley in view of the Centre abrogating special status of Jammu and Kashmir and dividing the state into two Union Territories.
On August 2, days before the moves were announced, the Jammu & Kashmir administration curtailed the Amarnath Yatra and asked the pilgrims and tourists to leave Kashmir Valley. The tourism industry is the backbone of Kashmir’s economy and survived the three-decade-long militancy, bouncing back every time there was a severe setback.
This year, the tourism season began late due to the terror attack in Pulwama in which 44 CRPF personnel were killed, increased hostilities between India and Pakistan after the Balakote air strike, security restrictions on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway to facilitate smooth passage of security convoys and the parliamentary elections.
“The tourism season is over and all the stakeholders are staring at a bleak future...We don’t see any revival till March next year given the atmosphere in the valley over the revocation of Article 370 of the Constitution,” Mohammad Ashraf Lone, the president of the taxi operators’ union at the airport, told PTI.
He said they were expecting a good season before the Government moves.