Tourism industry wants better civic amenities for trade to thrive
People earning their bread and butter from the tourism industry in the holy city want nothing special, but an assured delivery of ordinary services, including clean roads, quick lifting of garbage, removal of encroachments, traffic snarls and dust on plants and trees besides safety and security on roads.
That said, the year gone by was marked by the absence of these ordinary amenities required by both visitors and residents alike. Yet, their absence pinched the tourism industry the most as it entirely depends upon quality civic amenities.
Tourists visiting the holy city from across the country and the world find themselves caught unawares in rampant traffic jams stretching for hours. Charanjit Singh, a pilgrim, who frequently visits here from Delhi, says growing traffic jams and mugging are a matter of grave concern for visitors. Waiting for hours in traffic jams to enter the city amounts to harassment of tourists who come here after travelling hundreds of kilometres. Tourists, especially those visiting with their families, are vulnerable to mugging. Tourists and staff employed in hotels and eating joints and working in the late night hours have become victims of snatching and theft incidents. In a majority of the cases, miscreants waylaid victims in the middle of the road, brandished weapons and slipped away with their cash, mobile phones and other costly items. In many instances, they do not hold back from injuring and killing their victims.
Navdeep Singh, a hotelier, said tardy garbage lifting remained the biggest problem for the tourism industry this year. After a disagreement erupted between the MC and Averda company, the Amritsar Municipal Corporation (AMC) woefully failed to make alternate arrangements. It was only in September that the district administration woke up and intervened to instruct the garbage collection firm to increase the number of garbage collection vehicles to 200, by adding 90 more. Most of these vehicles are yet to be deployed for garbage lifting.
For the industry, the year began with a slow start as the harsh cold wave conditions resulted in decline of footfall of tourists and room occupancy. Frequent farmers’ stir remained a matter of concern for hoteliers, guides, tour and taxi operators. In February, the “Delhi Chalo” movement of farmers let to a dip in room occupancy of hotels.
Among the new introduction for the city’s tourism industry were luxury hotels and restaurants. A long awaited train-themed restaurant was opened for the public this year where one could enjoy a delectable meal in the ambience of a restaurant-on-wheels 24x7. Food bloggers played a positive role by bringing in foodies in search of a variety of kulchas, chhole-bhature and tandoor cooked non-vegetarian delicacies.
Manufacturers of indigenous products, including shawls, stoles, Punjabi Jutti, papad-warriyan, achaar, murabba and others rue that the government hardly put in any effort to promote these items this year, despite the fact that the hospitality industry had been the mainstay of the local economy for long. They urged the government to chip in for these projects next year.
Gurinder Singh Johal, founder of Amritsar Foundation, said the city where nearly one lakh tourists come every day, needs more planning, resources, manpower and technological know-how to keep it safe, clean and free of traffic jams and encroachments to beckon more tourists.
