A Ravaged State Pins Its Hope on Tourism

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At the peak of tourist season this year, the hill state of Uttarakhand wears a worn out look. Six months after flash floods ravaged the land, the state tourism board is doing its best to revive Uttarakhand’s tourism-based economy. While Congress government-led rehabilitation work in the state is moving at a snail’s pace, the tourism department claims that it is back on track and ready to host guests again.

As part of its effort to highlight its claim, the department is organising an adventure car rally in the mountains from 21-24 December. To drive home Uttarakhand’s scenic appeal, the route of the rally has been drawn such that it passes through some of its biggest tourist spots.

“We have built new roads and infrastructure, which are the lifeline of tourism in the state. The rally will spread the message, nationally and internationally, that the state is once again the ‘eco-adventure tourism destination’ for skiing, white water rafting, wildlife photography, and now also motorsport,” says Amrita Rawat, Uttarakhand Tourism Minister.

The Uttarakhand Adventure Car Rally for cars and SUVs will begin from Dehradun on 21 December and move through the Garhwal region. It will go past Shivpuri, Dev Prayag, Karn Prayag, Rudra Prayag and Nand Prayag and end at the ski resort at Auli on day one.

On day two, the adventure drivers will course along the mountain roads from Auli to Ramnagar, past the Jim Corbett National Park. On day three, the cars will head to Mussoorie from Ramnagar and will then go off-road, navigating through forest roads in the region.

The rally will be based on the time-speed-distance (TDS) format where the participants have to adhere to the time duration and speed limits set by rally officials. There are penalties for crossing checkpoints and finishing too early as well as for finishing too late. The team with the least number of penalties wins.

Motorsport events are not new to Uttarakhand. In 1980, the Himalayan Rally used to pass through Uttarakhand and soon turned into an international event that lasted till 1990. It is to this grand history that the department is harking back to, in the hopes of a revival.

The floods in June 2013 were one of the biggest natural calamities in independent India that led to a massive loss of lives and property, and put a sudden full stop to tourism-related activities in the state. With scenes of devastation being broadcast across the nation on live television, potential travellers became apprehensive of venturing into the state, raising questions of personal safety. Thus, even areas left untouched by the flood saw a massive drop in tourist footfall.

“After the disaster in June, the morale of the people was quite low. We saw that businesses were suffering due to the lack of tourists. In October, this year, we formed a club called “Team Uttarakhand Tigers”. We’d been practicing and off-roading around Dehradun and other places in the state and it hit us that a rally could help woo tourists back to the state. The rally will show that Uttarakhand is ready to welcome back tourists,” says Akshat Bansal, a rally car driver, based in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

The event will see participation from experienced car rally teams such as husband-wife duo Satish Gopalkrishnan, driver, and wife, Savera D’Souza, navigator, of Bengaluru, who won four out of five national TSD rallies last year.

“The media gave wide coverage to the disaster and its aftermath. But, there has been a lull since then and this event will definitely help get some attention to the state to show that things are returning to normalcy,” Bansal adds. To add to that, the state tourism department has prepared other smaller events such as a Winter Line Carnival at Mussourie this month.

“Some revival is required after June 2013. Tourism promotional activities are being supported by the central government. Our teams have been surveying the roads on which the rally has been mapped from the Garhwal region to the Kumaon valley and they are absolutely fine. The rally will show that roads have been repaired and are motorable once again. It’ll show that Uttarakhand’s infrastructure has been revived, is safe and ready to welcome back tourists,” says VS Chauhan, deputy director of Uttarakhand tourism.

Another major tourist attraction of Uttarakhand that is being revived on war-footing is white water rafting. On the night of 16 June, follwing a cloud burst above the Chorabari glacier, which feeds the Mandakini, heavy rainfall inundated the river resulting in extensive floods along the river’s path. The Mandakini, which flows into the Ganges, thus submerged the white water rafting camps.

“The number of attending people has diminished since many are sceptical of its safety. The increase in government-backed activities will ensure a flux in all forms of adventure sports,” he said.

Since the season for rafting is not yet over, such activities could provide the much-needed shot in the arm to the rafting camps in the state. These camps have been floundering in terms of business, and locals estimate that the crowd is definitely a lot thinner than previous years.

“White water rafting camps in and around Shivpuri are usually buzzing with activity at this time of the year. But this year they bear a bleak look. People who stay at these camps generate business for eateries and stores on the roads. But, since there are fewer tourists, the local businesses are also not doing well,” says Jatin Kumar, a former police officer based near Rishikesh.

At the time of the cloud burst, pilgrims across India were queuing up to visit the Kedarnath shrine. Roads all along the Himalayas to Kedarnath were buzzing with commercial activity, brought on by the influx of visitors. Following the flood, hundreds were killed and thousands of tourists were reported missing and stranded across the state. When Kedarnath re-opened, between 5 October to 2 November, it recorded a visit of nearly 1,400 pilgrims — a fraction of the number of visitors that usually visit the shrine this time every year.

The numbers that came out after the floods were frightening enough to keep anyone away. There were 580 reported deaths; 5,200 people were reported missing across 4,200 affected villages; 3,320 houses were destroyed or damaged and over 9,200 cattle and livestock went missing. 70,000 tourists and more than one lakh local inhabitants were stranded in places which were cut off, according to a report by the Asian Development Bank.

What’s more, this report, based on government figures, ignores several thousands whose bodies were never recovered. The same report goes on to claim that at least $250 million is required for rehabilitation.

Although rehabilitation work has begun, the state and the Central government are faced with a herculean task. Reconstructing housing in itself is going to be a long and arduous task. The government, according to its own figures, has to rebuild 224 destroyed houses in Uttarkashi district, 88 in Bageshwar, more than 400 in Chamoli, which includes Joshimath and Karnprayag, more than 600 in Pithoragarh and more than 1,500 in Rudraprayag. Rudraprayag, which includes Gaurikund-Kedarnath, has been the worst hit and there are doubts if it will be restored to even a shade of its bygone stature anytime soon.

The rehabilitation work continues to crawl at a pace that has left many unhappy. The Congress party at the Centre is dissatisfied with chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, a party veteran. The party has reportedly indicated that it wants Bahuguna to step down for bungling up rehabilitation work in the state.

“The government has tangled itself up in red tape, while people continue to struggle for basic facilities such as housing and water. Roads are in a bad shape and the drinking water supply is running on a temporary basis. Corporates and NGOs have provided housing for displaced people in this transitional phase,” said Sandeep Thapliyal, a senior journalist based in Rudraprayag.

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which was supposed to repair damaged roads across the state, had estimated that 250 crore would be needed to reconstruct and realign roads in Rudraprayag, but was given only Rs 12 crore.

Raghav Langer, Rudraprayag’s district magistrate, agrees that rehabilitation work leaves much to be desired, but he is optimistic of the ongoing work. “We have made all roads motorable since September. The district has disbursed Rs 16.5 crore. Another Rs 22 crore will be released this week for reconstruction efforts. There are 1,500 houses that had been destroyed. 803 families have opted for owner-driven construction. They will be given Rs 5 lakh each in four tranches as per stage of construction,” he says.

Reserve Bank of India had announced a moratorium of one year on payback of all loans financed to businesses in Uttarakhand. State Bank of India has also offered a one-time-settlement (OTS) at 50% to these businesses.

It is possible that Uttarakhand can be pulled out from the unprecedented unholy mess it is in, but the government has to act swiftly and carefully.

ushinor@tehelka.com

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