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The Wire
02-06-2025
- The Wire
Discrepancies, Data and the Myth of Kashmir's Tourism ‘Boost': An RTI Raises More Questions
Menu हिंदी తెలుగు اردو Home Politics Economy World Security Law Science Society Culture Editor's Pick Opinion Support independent journalism. Donate Now Government Discrepancies, Data and the Myth of Kashmir's Tourism 'Boost': An RTI Raises More Questions Jehangir Ali 32 minutes ago An RTI activist has alleged that data disclosed by the tourism department and the government-run development authorities that are responsible for independently managing tourist destinations in Kashmir are marred by errors. FILE IMAGE. Tourists lined up at a Gondola cable car station, in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, at Gulmarg in Baramulla district, Jammu & Kashmir, Thursday, April 24, 2025. Photo: PTI Real journalism holds power accountable Since 2015, The Wire has done just that. But we can continue only with your support. Contribute now Srinagar: A right to information query has found that only 10% of the purported tourist footfall in Jammu and Kashmir since the reading down of Article 370 was for the Kashmir Valley, leading to questions on claims of the restoration of normalcy in the area and queries on the methods in which such numbers are collected. As many as 9.47 crore tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir, the Union government had earlier said. In response to the RTI query by Srinagar-based transparency activist M.M. Shuja, the tourism department of Kashmir has stated that 92,80,199 tourists – 1,40,577 of them foreigners – visited the Kashmir Valley in the six years since 2019, the year of the Article 370 move. According to the department's public information officer, the number of tourists who visited the Kashmir valley in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 was 5,65,532, 41,267, 6,65,814, 23,10,309, 22,10,497 and 29,86,780 respectively. However, the Union government's own Economic Survey 2024-25 puts the figures at 6,65,777, 26,73,442, 31,55,835 and 34,98,702 in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively. The Union government thus records over 18 lakh more tourists from 2021 to 2024 than the tourism department of the J&K government, which is under its direct control. In March this year, a report in the Rajya Sabha by a parliamentary standing committee stated that 9.47 crore tourists arrived in Jammu and Kashmir from 2019 to 2024, of whom around 8.5 crore seem to have confined their visit to the Jammu region only. Of these, a significant number appear to have visited the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine. According to official data, more than 4.33 crore devotees visited the shrine in the six years since 2019 – a figure which is likely to also include a good number of locals. The Kashmir valley's low share in Jammu and Kashmir's annual tourist footfall holds significance as the BJP-led Union government has repeatedly attempted to link the numbers with the restoration of normalcy in the Union territory following the reading down of Article 370. Speaking with The Wire, Shuja, the RTI activist, alleged that the data disclosed by the tourism department and the government-run development authorities that are responsible for independently managing tourist destinations in Kashmir are marred by errors. Methods In a query about the methodology used for counting tourists at the Srinagar airport and the national highway – the only all-weather surface link that connects the valley with the rest of the country – the department stated that the final figure was 'recorded manually by the dedicated tourist police headed by Deputy Director Tourism Enforcement'. Shuja said that there are flaws in this strategy, claiming that the total number includes local residents of the valley who may be travelling for reasons such as study, healthcare, business or leisure, as well as the floating population of around four to five lakh migrant workers who travel to Kashmir every year. 'The tourism department passes off the number of daily arrivals at the Srinagar airport as the total number of tourists, without excluding the locals and security personnel who visit Kashmir for reasons other than tourism. When I asked the officials about this, they had no answer,' claimed Shuja. He also said that the method used to count tourists arriving in Kashmir by passenger cabs or buses via the national highway was flawed for the same reason. 'The number of passengers that can fit into buses and cabs crossing the Jawahar Tunnel into Kashmir is presented as the number of tourists. While it may help to present a rosy picture of tourism, the absence of factual data will hinder the long-term growth of the sector', Shuja said. The RTI activist also alleged that these discrepancies appear in data released by the development authorities that oversee some of Kashmir's most popular tourist destinations. Citing the official figures revealed by the Sonamarg Development Authority (SDA) in Ganderbal district, he said that there are 1,270 rooms in all the private and government establishments and hotels in this central Kashmir health resort, which figures among the valley's top five tourist destinations. More discrepancies Responding to an RTI query by Shuja, the SDA stated that 8,90,874 tourists visited Sonamarg in 2024. However, the authority left the query unanswered about the mechanism it adopted to count tourists. Shuja claimed that if all rooms available in Sonamarg were to be occupied on all days of the year, the total number would come to 4,63,550 tourists in 2024. 'If the number is doubled to two tourists per room, even then the figure of 9,27,100 would suggest that Sonamarg was almost at full capacity throughout the year, which is far from truth, given that the harsh winter and the terrorist attack on the Z-Morh tunnel kept Sonamarg out of bounds for many weeks in 2024,' he said. The tourism department has also stated that the hotels, lodges and other similar facilities in Kashmir can accommodate 77,050 persons, with the capital Srinagar figuring on top with a capacity of 56,022 beds, followed by Anantnag with 11,336 and Baramulla with 4,494. A 2018 report in the International Journal of Advance Research in Science and Engineering said that the relative share of the tourism sector in Jammu and Kashmir's gross state domestic product (GSDP) fluctuated between 6.99% and 8.04%, making it a key sector which has generated a good number of jobs in the hospitality and transportation sectors in recent years. In his first budget speech on March 7, chief minister Omar Abdullah asserted that his government was planning to increase the contribution of the tourism sector to the Union territory's GSDP from 7% to at least 15% over the course of his tenure. Make a contribution to Independent Journalism Related News 'No Unauthorised Websites, Private Email IDs': J&K Govt Issues Advisory Amid Cyber Attacks What Amit Shah's Amarnath Yatra Security Meeting Says About Who Controls Law and Order in J&K The Grand Tamasha of Jammu and Kashmir Politics Jammu and Kashmir: Family Living Near LoC Loses Breadwinner in Shelling After Operation Sindoor Author of 'Kashmir in Conflict' Says 'India and Pakistan Gain Nothing From Repeated Military Confrontations' Pahalgam and the Collective Punishment of Kashmiris Missing Police in Pahalgam: Who is Responsible for this Biggest Breach of Public Security? 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The Wire
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The Wire
Pakistani Artillery Shelling Kills 3 Civilians in J&K, Locals Say Fighter Jet Crashed in Pampore
Menu हिंदी తెలుగు اردو Home Politics Economy World Security Law Science Society Culture Editor's Pick Opinion Support independent journalism. Donate Now Security Pakistani Artillery Shelling Kills 3 Civilians in J&K, Locals Say Fighter Jet Crashed in Pampore Jehangir Ali 4 minutes ago Authorities have shut down the only two civilian airports in Srinagar and Jammu which have been reportedly taken over by the Indian Air Force. People gather near a damaged property after alleged heavy firing and shelling by Pakistan military overnight across the Line of Control and International Border, at Irwan Khanetar village in Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. At least three civilians were killed and ten injured in the incident, according to officials. Photo: PTI Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir woke up to a tense morning on Wednesday (May 7) after two fighter jets reportedly crashed in the outskirts of the capital Srinagar and Jammu's Akhnoor while artillery shelling from Pakistan hit residential areas in two districts of the Union territory. At least three civilians, including a forest department official, were killed reportedly after Pakistan fired artillery shells at a residential area in Poonch district of Jammu which falls along the Line of Control. Earlier, India targeted nine locations housing 'terrorist infrastructure' in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir early Wednesday morning, two weeks after a terror attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam left 26 civilians dead. As of Wednesday, authorities have shut down the only two civilian airports in Srinagar and Jammu which have been reportedly taken over by the Indian Air Force, while the educational institutions in parts of the Union territory have been asked to remain closed on Wednesday amid reports of artillery firing along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border. Witnesses said that many residents in Srinagar and adjoining areas in south Kashmir were woken up in the middle of the night on Tuesday by a loud explosion, purportedly caused after a fighter jet crashed in Wuyan locality of the saffron town of Pampore, some 20 kilometres from the capital city. Fighter jet crash reported from Pampore A resident of Pampore, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that ahead of the explosion, some fighter jets were hovering in the skies over the town at midnight which is not very far from the Air Force Station in Awantipora. 'Suddenly there was a massive explosion which shook our house as if a powerful earthquake had struck. The sky also lit up as if it were daytime. I immediately woke up my children and went down to the ground floor,' the local resident said. According to eyewitnesses, the wreckage of the jet was scattered in a radius of around 500 metres in Wuyan area which was immediately cordoned off by the security forces while dozens of journalists who had arrived to cover the aftermath of the incident were turned away. 'Some wreckage fell near a school and in the compound of a mosque. Thankfully, no residential houses were impacted,' the Pampora resident quoted above said. The aftermath of the crash in Wuyan was live-streamed on Facebook by a local resident who could be heard in the video saying that he was helping the firefighters in rescue operation. It was not immediately known whether there were casualties in the crash. The origin and the make of the crashed fighter jets was not immediately known. There was no claim by the Union government about the downing of Pakistani fighter jets. According to reports, the crash sites have been taken over by personnel from Indian Air Force. A pall of gloom descended in north Kashmir's Kupwara after several residential houses were damaged in the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday due to artillery shelling from across the Line of Control. According to reports, the artillery shells landed in a residential area in Karnah town but there were no reports of loss of life or injuries. A video from the scene of the incident in Karnah showed a massive fire tearing through a residential area with raging flames billowing from at least three to four houses as firefighters struggle to control the blaze. A man can be heard crying that his cow has died due to the fire while another male voice insists the cameraperson to make a video of the incident. 'Everything has been destroyed. Make a report,' the voice says. The Wire can't independently verify the footage. Ceasefire violation in Baramulla and Poonch Reports of ceasefire violation were also received from Baramulla and Poonch districts following which the educational institutions in parts of the Union territory have been asked by authorities to remain shut on Wednesday. According to UNI news agency, the three deceased civilians have been identified as Mohammad Adil, Saleem Hussain and Ruby Kour. In Kashmir, educational institutions in parts of Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora have been shut while in Jammu division, authorities have ordered closure of educational institutions in parts of Rajouri, Poonch, Kathua, Jammu and Samba districts. in the aftermath of 'Operation Sindoor' that was launched by the armed forces in the intervening night of May 6 and 7 in retaliation against the Pahalgam terrorist attack, the army and the Border Security Forces have been put on a high alert in Jammu and Kashmir. The operation was carried out more than a fortnight after a group of terrorists gunned down 26 civilians, mostly tourists, in Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam health resort on April 22 in the worst terrorist attack on tourists in Kashmir. India has promised to avenge the terrorist attack and hunt down the perpetrators and their supporters to the 'end of the earth', even as the United States and other countries called on New Delhi and Islamabad to exercise restraint and resolve their difference through diplomatic measures. 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