Uttarakhand is set to lose crores as revenue annually with China opening new route to Tibet via Nathu-la pass for the Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage. This additional new passage to Kailash-Mansaroar has also come as a setback for the State Government to position Uttarakhand as a favourable tourist destination across the country and globally with the help of this pilgrimage.
According to the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN), which looks after the hospitality aspect of the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage, an amount of Rs32,000 is charged per devotee as travel expenses in the Indian territory. So a maximum 1,080 pilgrims can visit Kailash Mansarovar on pilgrimage in a season in 18 batches i.e. 60 in each. Thus, the KMVN earns about
Rs3,45,60,000 as revenue annually from 1,080 pilgrims for conducting the pilgrimage.
More so, since a majority part of the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage route falls in Uttarakhand, it boosts the tourism sector in a big way here in terms of revenue, placing the Himalayan State as a favourable tourist destination across the country and also globally.
Although this new route will be an additional option to the existing lipulekh pass route via Uttarakhand, here is a general feeling that since the Nathu-la route makes the holy Kailash-Mansarovar accessible by motorable road, devotees would hardly prefer the existing lipulekh pass to go on the Kailalsh-Mansarovar pilgrimage, given its long and risky on-foot journey.
There are some more reasons why devotees would skip the old lipulekh pass to approach Tibet for Kailash Mansarovar. The most important reason is that a majority of the Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrims are from others states like, Delhi and Gujarat.
Therefore, it is believed that the pilgrims, not so accustomed to Uttarakhand’s on-foot hill journey, would rather travel by the motorable road to reach Kailash Mansarovar via Nathu-la pass in Sikkim.
As per the figures provided by the KMVN out of 910 pilgrims from 28 States who visited Kaialash Mansarovar this year, a maximum 193 were from Gujarat, followed by 120 from Delhi, 113 from Maharashtra, 77 from Karnataka, 58 from Rajasthan, 45 from UP, 40 from West Bengal, 35 each from Kerala and Madhya Pradesh, 33 from Andhra Pradesh, 32 from Tamil Nadu, 27 from Chhattisgarh, 15 each from Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, 13 from Punjab, 11 each from Telangana and Uttarakhand, nine from Bihar, six from Orissa, four from Chandigarh, three each from Assam, J&K and Pondicherry, two each from Jharkhand, Daman and Diu, Goa and Tripura, one from Manipur.
Interestingly, the holy Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage that remained disrupted last year due to devastating monsoon, created history this year with a record 910 pilgrims going on the pilgrimage, while only 774 pilgrims could go on this yatra in 2012 and 761 in 2011. On account of tough rainy conditions, only 106 pilgrims could visit the holy Himalayan shrines in 2013.