Srinagar- The continuously worsening power crisis in Kashmir valley has had a negative impact on the houseboat and small-scale industries, resulting in losses worth crores to the two major sectors.
While those associated with the tourism industry asserted that the worsening power crisis forced tourists both domestic and foreign to postpone their planned trips to Kashmir, small-scale business owners claimed to have suffered productivity losses worth crores.
The unscheduled power cuts ranging from 4 to 8 hours a day have badly affected the houseboat industry in Dal Lake which is one of the iconic tourist attractions in Srinagar.
“We are tirelessly working to promote the tourism sector in order to draw more and more tourists to Kashmir, but how could a tourist stay on a houseboat in the middle of a very cold climate? Unfortunately, our objective has been severely hampered by the escalating power issues,” Manzoor Pakhtoon, President Houseboat Owners Association, told Kashmir Observer.
We promise visitors with contemporary amenities, but when they arrive, they tremble from the cold and feel frightened by the complete darkness. This is what a houseboat owner has been dealing with for more than a month, he added.
Although tourists visit other well-known tourist destinations in Kashmir in addition to Dal Lake, the HBOA president said it is challenging to figure out the exact number of visitors who visited Kashmir up until the end of this month.
The administration, he claimed, continues to boast about the growth in tourism in Kashmir, but in reality, tourists tend to shorten or postpone their trips amid worsening power crises.
Revealing the specific number of tourists may not be possible, he said, as houseboats in Srinagar’s Nigeen Lake and Jhelum River also carry tourists, and guest houses also accommodate a sizable number of visitors during the high season.
“I can state with authority that power outages have had a major negative influence on our clients in the houseboat sector. Since the valley started to experience power outages, there have been reports of tourists cancelling their trips to Kashmir,” Pakhtoon said, adding our associate travel agents keep cancelling the scheduled trips to Kashmir citing extreme power crises.
Besides Dal Lake, Pakhtoon said, other popular tourist spots including Gulmarg, Sonmarg, and Pahalgam have also been impacted by the situation brought on by the worsening power crisis.
He, however, hoped that the electricity situation in Kashmir will improve before the two important events, Christmas and New Year’s, adding that if the administration does not make coordinated efforts in this respect, the situation would worsen.
“Visitors never come alone as they are accompanied by their families, including kids. They feel better when the houseboat has all the facilities they need, such as internet, heating and entertainment. And all this is possible when there will be a consistent power supply,” he said.
Farooq Ahmad Kathoo, president Travel Agents Association of Kashmir (TAAK), claimed that spontaneous power outages have had a detrimental effect on the tourism industry in the region and that the visitors who had made reservations in advance have begun to cancel their planned trips to Kashmir.
“Tourists visiting Kashmir belong to tropical areas where the occasional high is above 45 degrees Celsius, how are they going to survive the bitter cold here? Is it possible for them to endure below freezing temperatures? If there had been a sufficient supply of electricity for both commercial and domestic users, the circumstances would have been different,” Kathoo told Kashmir Observer.
The government should at least learn from the past experiences, he said, since the lack of necessary facilities for customers during their stay negatively affects the business.
Speaking to Kashmir Observer, President Small Scale Industries Association of Kashmir, Fazal Illahi, said the unscheduled power cuts, ranging between two to three hours a day, have cost the unit holders crores of rupees.
It has become difficult for the unit holders to manage the 800 personnel that work at various units, according to Illahi. He said in addition to machinery break-down, unit holders also lose 20% of their earnings every hour in absence of electricity.
“Would a typical firm be able to pay its employees’ wages under these conditions? When the Industrial Estate’s electricity is cut off, the unit holders incur 20 percent losses per hour,” he said, adding that the machinery breaks down and the production is damaged.
In addition to the problems with electricity, the increased power tariffs, Illahi claimed, has broken the back of the small-scale industrialists in Kashmir.
“We would like to know how we could increase our production and create jobs in this situation. The Industrial Estate Baghi-Ali Mardan Khan has been facing annoying power outages that last between two and three hours every day,” Illahi added.
He said the administration, especially KPDCL, is duty bound to provide round the clock electricity to the industrial estate, as the 107 unit holders pay monthly electricity bills on time.
“We suffer because the Industrial Estate has seen significant losses in productivity and output as a result of the unplanned power outages. Our workers and machines break down, and we are unable to manufacture stuff as a result of the unscheduled power cuts,” he added.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
