Last Updated on July 16, 2021 at 11:29 am
The decision of cancellation of this year’s Amarnath Yatra by Jammu and Kashmir authorities doesn’t seem to impress the business community of Jammu.
Due to Covid-19 pandemic tourism, trade and business have been affected to a great extent. Since there was fall in the cases of Covid-19, traders and shopkeepers of Jammu expected that this year’s Amarnath Yatra would help them cope up with the financial crisis they have suffered but the Yatra was cancelled.
But the matter of concern for the business community rose as there have been no restrictions for the number of people visiting various other tourists’ destinations. Concerned authorities have failed to control the rise in tourist arrivals.
A leader of the traders in Jammu said that a huge inflow of people at various tourist destinations across J&K has been causing threat to the lives of the people, but no action was taken by the authorities.
He further said that, complete cancellation of the Yatra was not a right decision instead authorities should have allowed Yatra by controlling the number of pilgrims so as to maintain the religious sanctity of the holy cave.
Many shopkeepers pointed towards ongoing pilgrimage of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi. “Why not the same yardstick is adopted for the Amarnath Yatra?’’ asked shopkeepers.
The business community which has been largely impacted due to pandemic expected Yatra to normally run this year. The decision of cancellation has impacted economy to a great extent.
There are many people who are dependent on the Yatra, earn their livelihood through it but the decision of cancelling this year’s Yatra as well has raised a cause of concern for these people as well as business community.
