Col Ajay K Raina
Visuals circulating on social media, showing traders, mule drivers, palanquin bearers, and other stakeholders in Katra, paint a dismal picture of what is happening in Katra in particular and the Jammu region in general. It represents a mindset where authorities are pretty happy to rake in moolah while leaving the town that, incidentally, hosts the maximum number of visitors in the UT to its devices. The much-hyped Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), while adding crores to its account on a daily basis, appears to have forgotten the very foundation of its income, the base of the pilgrimage that gives them such an income.
Katra, a town that appears to have gotten stuck in a time warp, is going from bad to worse while ambitious projects like ropeway, etc., are being planned. A look at its roads and streets, drains and garbage disposal, dust in its air and auto rickshaws rubbing the pedestrians tells us that the town is seeing a growth akin to an uncontrollable cancer inside a body. The body is rotting and may implode soon. The question, thus, arises: who will take ownership of Katra? Is SMVDSB only meant to look after the assets located on the hills overlooking the town, ignoring the town altogether? Shouldn’t a highly profitable body like SMVDSB look beyond the pilgrimage track, an annual festival, an auditorium here and a hall there and adopt Katra as its flagship project? Why despite such a huge inflow of cash, the only imaginative work done in the recent past has been hosting iftars during COVID?
Problems in Katra are manifolds. The newly constructed railway line to Katra killed the businesses in Jammu; the extension to Srinagar will kill the earnings in Katra, too. While one is not blindly opposed to developmental activities, and one understands that businesses have to evolve themselves to meet such challenges, it is pertinent to note that certain areas and regions need a different approach. As if the impact of inevitable train connectivity were not enough, the latest venture to construct a ropeway connecting Katra with the holy cave has only added to the insecurities of the local businessmen and service providers. At another level, the question of spoiling the sanctity of the pilgrimage also needs to be looked into. Hindu pilgrimages are a kind of penance where a devote must undergo physical hardships to pay obeisance to the power she or he worships. Why are we hell-bent on turning pilgrimages into tourism circuits? This issue of unmindful development is being witnessed across the country, from the Ma Kamakhya corridor to the Shri Amarnath Ji shrine. A motorable road right to the holy cave of Shri Amarnath is an idea that perplexes many. The moot question is WHY?
Creating neat and hassle-free access to a pilgrimage site is one thing; making it a fun activity is quite another. So, the development around the Golden Temple is a welcome step. People who have been there for years will vouch that today’s picture around the holy temple is much better than what existed before the project was executed. Despite its controversies, even the Kashi-Vishwanath corridor has drawn a lot of applause. However, Katra stands ignored despite it being the base of the pilgrimage. With helicopters and electric cars already catering for old, infirm and wealthy, where is the need to add another layer of luxury that, as it appears clearly, will convert the pilgrimage into a picnic, not to mention the adverse impact on the livelihood of thousands. I, for one, am against using animals for ferrying obese and lazy people to shrines and with helicopters and cars now available, animal usage must be banned. The concept of providing comfort must stop there; no more.
Talking of a town stuck in a time warp, an overcrowded, ill-managed town has only been travelling southwards over decades. Its developmental plan, like the master plan of another important city, Jammu, appears to be lying in some file inside a forgotten cupboard in some office.
There is an urgent need to evolve a plan, consult the various stakeholders and execute a project that makes pilgrimage an event to remember where theYaris feel welcome and where livelihood sources are transformed to meet the demands of modern times. All this must happen and stop at Katra. Trikuta Hills have had enough and need to be left alone for a while. With the kind of infrastructure already in place, all that is needed to be done is to maintain those assets well and make sure that all those amenities along the track and around Bhawan are made available to one and all without any prejudice.
If the coffers are really overflowing and there is an urge to do something, the scope of ownership of the SMVDSB may be reconsidered and expanded to cover other areas that are crying for attention. Be it Shiv Khori or infrastructure around Mansar, Sarunisar or Sanasar, a lot can be done. In any case, since it is not unusual to see the budgetary allocations meant for Jammu getting siphoned off to Kashmir, it is just about time that Jammu uses its own resources to develop its tourism potential and give an opportunity to the businesses adversely affected by new railway lines to relocate and get another chance. Such a ground reality further reinforces the need to have Jammu as a separate state where those who are affected and not those sitting in a different geography will make decisions for the region. After all, those calling an area Paradise on Earth need to tell us why the areas on the other side of the same mountain range are no better than hell!
(The author is a military historian and public speaker.)
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