Excelsior Correspondent
KATRA, July 9: A joint meeting of Hotel & Restaurant Association, Katra (HRAK) and Hotel & Restaurant Association, Patnitop (HRAP), was held here under the presidium of Rakesh Wazir (President HRAK), Shyam Lal Kesar (Chairman HRAK) and, Kushal Magotra (President HRAP) for discussing the situation arising because of highway restrictions.
The meet opined that the recent highway restrictions by which all the roads connecting to highway are stopped in peaceful areas of Jammu region for more than 2-3 hours in the morning and evening daily till the time Amar Nath Yatra passes away, was effecting the Vaishnodevi Yatra in a big way.
Wazir said that Amar Nath Yatra is going on since decades and not even a single incident happened in all these years particularly at the peaceful areas from Jammu to Udhampur etc and hence putting the pilgrims of Vaishnodevi and people to inconvenience was really disgusting. “How administration can ignore one big yatra of Vaishnodevi, which is more than 35,000 to 40,000 pilgrims per day on an average per on the name of another Yatra of Lord Shiva which even almighty (Lord Shiva) will not tolerate?” he asked .
Kesar lamented that because of inefficiency on part of the administration, pilgrimage to Vaishnodevi has reduced in last 6-7 years instead of increase in the number. “If the situations like highway restrictions continue, the yatra will further reduce,” he feared and appealed the Center as well as the State administration to immediately intervene into the matter and take a re- look into the decision.
Magotra, while speaking on the occasion, said that decisions like highway restrictions have brought down the tourism of Patnitop, Bhaderwah, Sanasar and other places to zero as the vehicles of even tourists to Patnitop and other places were being stopped. He also threatened to adopt agitational path if the restrictions are not lifted.
The meeting was attended by HRAK Sr Vice President Virender Kesar, Vice Presidents Ajay Kotwal, Vivek Sharma, Nishant Sharma, Meena Wazir, Sumit Khajuria, Secretaries Sudershan Sharma, Mohit Dubey and others.
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