Frequent hartal calls by separatists take their toll on Kashmir’s economy
4000 shutdowns since ’89 cost Kashmir Rs 60,000 crore
Srinagar: A recent survey undertaken by some media agencies has revealed that the economy of the Kashmir Valley has suffered a loss of Rs 60,000 crore as a result of around 4000 shutdowns that have taken place during the last two decades.
The survey also points out that some “mysterious hands” are working to bring the Kashmir’s tourism industry to a grinding halt. Each individual Kashmiri has suffered an average loss of Rs 20 lakh, the survey observes.
Traders associated with the tourist trade, the hotel industry, the houseboat industry, the handicraft industry and the carpet industry have claimed that the 120 shutdowns that take place annually, has affected their livelihood drastically, so much so that a majority of them have come below the poverty line.
According to the survey, the tourism trade in other states have prospered in the same period and are now running their own helicopter services, and chains of five-star and three-star hotels.
The media survey reveals that in 1989, some of today’s Kashmir’s richest families were economically very poor, but two decades later, they have accumulated riches beyond their wildest imagination. They have become owners of huge tracts of land in their respective areas of operation.
The damage caused by the shutdowns is monumental, affecting the social, education, cultural, commercial, intellectual, philosophical, regional, scientific, sports and other sectors.