Jat stir of Haryana affects tourism industry of Himachal Pradesh

Dharamsala, February 20, 2016: The Jat stir of Haryana have affected the tourism industry of Himachal Pradesh, particularly the weekend tourism hit badly in this small state which is heavy depend on this industry for finance. The vehicular traffic was hit on Chandigarh –Delhi highway which is the major connecting highway to this state with the rest of country, besides cancelation of around two dozen trains daily become the major hurdle in the tourist inflow to Himachal Pradesh.
Though the traffic on the NH1 highway was resumed on Friday late evening till Saturday morning, but soon after agitation went violent all the vehicular services were halted. Alone 125 routes of Himachal Road transport corporation (HRTC) buses from New Delhi to Shimla, Manali, Dharamsala and other places were suspended. HRTC executive Director Ram Kumar Gautam confirmed the cancelation of bus routes. “Around 125 busses ply on same route daily and are suspended due to agitation. We will resume services after situation is normalized,” Gautam said.
Jat stir cost Himachal’s tourism industry dear as hotels and taxi booking were cancelled by several tourists. “The tourist travelling in their own vehicles have cancelled the tour plans for the time being, causing mass cancellations of hotel booking in all the major tourist hill stations like Manali, Shimla and Dharamsala”, Travel agent Abhay Sharma said. “Tourists from New Delhi cancelled their bookings for Shimla and other tourist towns due to non-connectivity as road and rail network is hampered,” “Tourists even from Punjab, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan are cancelling their room bookings.