Cancellation of hotel bookings in HP
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, May 6 — The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) and many private hotels in the main tourist destinations of Shimla and Manali are flooded with messages for the cancellation of booking of hotel rooms which has left the authorities baffled.

Those related with tourism were expecting a bumper tourist season this summer because of the excessive heat in the plains. However, they have started receiving requests for the cancellation of hotel rooms.

All this is mainly because of reports of water scarcity and raging forest fires in the state.

Hoteliers accuse the media of scaring away tourists with their daily reports of water shortage which they claim are not based on facts.

The vice-chairman of the HPTDC, Mr Rakesh Pathania, said about 30 per cent of the bookings, particularly here and at Manali, had been got cancelled during the past few days.

He attributed this to news reports of acute water scarcity which had adversely hit the tourist trade. The political uncertainty and increase in the tourist traffic to Kashmir had also affected tourism.

He said occupancy at Manali hotels was about 60 per cent against the normal full bookings at this time of year in the past. Occupancy here was about 40 per cent at the moment.

Dharamsala and the adjoining areas were also facing the pinch of fewer tourists as occupancy there was between 45 and 60 per cent.

However, occupancy at Dalhousie, Kasauli, Barog and Chail was better.

The HPTDC has removed from its hotels signboards requesting tourists to use water sparingly.

Mr Pathania said Himachal Pradesh had done good business of attracting tourists here at the national tourism trade fair in Bombay, but all efforts had received a setback with the bulk of the cancellations coming from Maharashtra. A four-day-a-week special tourist train had been started this season between Mumbai and Kalka, but this would not help much this time.

A leading hotelier, Mr R.K. Garg, said occupancy at Manali this season was about 35 per cent of what it was last year.

There was hardly any effect on small hotels, but business for the bigger ones was not encouraging. Many industrial groups had got their booking for holding conferences cancelled mainly because of the political uncertainty.

Mr Garg said a large number of film shooting units had also shifted to their old favourite destination of Kashmir as the government there was providing incentives to them.

Mr Garg said the weather here had warmed up with forest fires raging.

The local association of hoteliers here has said that there is no shortage of water in the town. Some hoteliers have acquired tankers to carry water from natural sources.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Shimla Municipal Corporation clarified that there was no scarcity of water.

Mr Tarsem Bharti, a leader of the Himachal Vikas Congress, has said that there is an acute scarcity of drinking water in the Kasumpti area in the suburbs of the town.

He demanded that tankers should be deployed to deliver drinking water to residents of the area where many natural water sources had also dried up.

Residents of the Bharari area in the town have complained that they are receiving water supply on alternate days. The time of the water supply was inconveniently fixed at 3.30 a.m.

Water scarcity in Kangra
From Bijender Sharma

THE influx of tourists has picked up in the picturesque Kangra valley, including Dharmsala, Kangra, Chamunda and Jwalamukhi. The valley has been witnessing tourist rush since last week.

Though most of the tourists who visited Kangra last month came as part of package tours in chartered buses from Mumbai, Gujarat and Pune, visitors this month are mainly from Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, U.P. and Maharashtra. They have come on their own.

Kangra is fast losing out as a tourist resort of Himachal. It is heat, dirt, water crisis and inadequate parking space which greet the visitors instead of any pleasing sights. There are problems of parking, over-charging by porters, taxi operators and hoteliers. These have a delirious effect on tourist traffic for over two years. There has never been any attempt from the government side to improve the facilities.

* * *

The historical temple town, Jawalamukhi, which cannot be regarded as a real city as most offices here are still facing an acute shortage of staff, infrastructure and accommodation, both official and residential, had caused a lot of inconvenience to both officials and the public. Moreover, residents here are sore over the deplorable condition of roads, sanitation, streetlighting, erratic power supply and drinking water. Roads and bazars have been encroached upon by shopkeepers, fruit sellers and rehriwalas. All this is causing traffic congestion, which has made roads accident-prone.

Mr S.S. Chambial, SDM, Dehra, recently directed the PWD authorities to demarcate their land on both sides of roads so that a drive could be executed judiciously. The process was started with a bang but was give up later for reasons best known to the administration.

* * *

The district Administration is unaware of the hardships of bus passengers. Private operators do not ply buses on the routes allocated to them. As a result, people in the interior villages have to trudge long distances to catch a bus. Passengers travelling from the Dehra side to Jwalamukhi are forced to get down at Bohan chowk as most private buses bypass the main Jwalamukhi bus stand. Most of the buses are in bad shape. They not only tear clothes but also cause injuries to passengers.

* * *

Jwalamukhi, a religious town and the richest town in Kangra district, does not have a park or a recreational centre. It is only a historical place. The Ashatbhuji Temple, which can be developed into a beautiful park has virtually been "captured" by a person. Ministers belonging to both the Congress and the BJP Government and officials of the Local administration had made promises to develop a beautiful tourist spot at Parikarma Marg behind the main temple.

* * *

Kangra district is facing drought-like conditions due to scanty rainfall in the past three months and water scarcity has already started playing its role on the district. Absence of rain has not only dried up perennial water sources, but also lowered the water table, which has resulted in drying up of hand pumps. However, the district Administration has made arrangements to cope with water scarcity.

* * *

With the onset of summer, fire in various forest ranges has played have with flora and fauna at large. Obviously, fire in forest areas is a devastating phenomenon. The department concerned, on its part, seems to be not worried. While taking into consideration the loss caused to natural resources, in certain cases houses of some people of the area have also been gutted.

As per the version of environmental experts, the area will turn into a desert if efforts are not made by the department concerned.

Boycott threat by teachers
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, May 6 — The Himachal Government College Teachers Association has threatened to boycott the evaluation of answer books pertaining to the annual examination of graduate classes if Himachal Pradesh University fails to increase the remuneration for the work on the Punjab pattern.

A spokesman for the association said the university had enhanced the rates of evaluation fee from Rs 4 to Rs 6 per answer book last year. However, the hike was later withdrawn.

He said representatives of the association held talks with Dr S.K. Gupta, Vice-Chancellor, who gave an assurance that the necessary notification to revise the rates would be issued at the earliest. They made it clear that if the demand was not accepted, they would boycott the evaluation work from May 17.