After a 10-month furlough, Reyaz Ahmad has finally welcomed his first customer for a horse ride at Doodhpathri in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district. As the "winter wonderland" opened after the government eased security restrictions around 14 tourist destinations in Kashmir, the ponywallah is excited to resume work and earn a living to repay debts he had taken in the last 10 months of joblessness.
For Reyaz, during this tough period, life was not a struggle for his family alone, but for his horse too. The reopening of Doodhpathri is restoring life and livelihood.
"I just can't tell you how happy I am today. This is the first group of tourists we have received at Doodhpathri. It's our livelihood that was taken away all these months. Thank god our livelihood is restored today," said Reyaz.
Like Doodhpathri, the government closed 48 tourist destinations in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the terrorist attack on tourists in Pahalgam in April last year.
The attack and subsequent closure of tourist spots led to a mass exodus of visitors from the Valley, causing massive economic disruption and widespread job losses for thousands of families whose livelihoods depend on the tourism industry.
While the government had previously attempted a phased recovery, reopening 16 sites in June and another 12 in September, it failed to attract tourists back to Kashmir. However, the heavy snowfall in December proved to be a turning point for the sector. Officials report that January saw over one lakh tourists visiting the Valley, signalling the first real sign of a revival after months of severe downturn.
On Monday, Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha announced the reopening of 14 more destinations, including Doodhpathri.
Reyaz says it was a traumatising and endless wait for the reopening of tourist sites as he kept borrowing money for living expenses. "Now, I hope to earn a decent living and repay debts," he said.
A tourist from Rajasthan's Udaipur, taking a horse ride, said she feels happy to be part of the first group of tourists at Doodhpathri. "I am so happy to be here and see happiness on the faces of locals. It's so sad that these workers had to go through such a difficult time," she said.
Mesmerised by the breathtaking beauty, a group of tourists from Mumbai said they feel lucky to be among the first tourists to make it to the untouched snow-covered Doodhpathri meadow.
"I don't have words to express the beauty of this place and the hospitality of the people here. Every person in India should visit this place. Why go to Switzerland when we have better than Switzerland in India," said a tourist.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah thanked Union Home Minister Amit Shah for reopening tourist sites but questioned the rationale before closing them at the outset. Abdullah said the closure of tourist sites for the last 10 months didn't serve any purpose. He said even during the worst militancy period in Kashmir, the elected government had never closed any tours. Abdullah said the local people have borne the brunt and suffered losses due to the closure of tourist spots.
