পহেলগাঁও হামলার প্রভাব পড়লেও ঘুরে দাঁড়াচ্ছে জম্মু-কাশ্মীরের পর্যটন, বললেন ওমর আবদুল্লা

বৃহস্পতিবার কলকাতায় একটি পর্যটন মেলার উদ্বোধন করেন জম্মু ও কাশ্মীরের মুখ্যমন্ত্রী ওমর আবদুল্লা ৷ সেখানেই তিনি এই কথা বলেন ৷

Transcript

00:00I understand the concern that would exist amongst people, particularly so soon after

00:18what happened on the 22nd of April.

00:22But please rest assured that all possible steps are being taken to ensure a peaceful

00:31and secure Jammu and Kashmir and don't take my word for it.

00:38A number of people from here have already travelled to Jammu and Kashmir.

00:43When they come back, ask them.

00:46We will have lakhs of Amarnath Yatris who will conclude the Yatra by the 9th of August and

00:55return to their homes.

00:57Some have gone from West Bengal as well.

01:00Please when they come back, ask them if they felt insecure or if they felt scared.

01:06And whatever they say, you are free to broadcast it.

01:08Don't go by my words.

01:10Go by the words of the people who have visited and come back from me.

01:14How much is the tourism industry of the state hit?

01:18Because you were saying that people are most definitely going back but the sector must

01:23have taken some view.

01:24Of course we took ahead.

01:26How could we not?

01:29We went from full hotels to empty hotels.

01:33We went from Dul Lake being full of shikaras to not a single shikara being visible on Dul Lake.

01:42If you want in terms of sort of numbers that you can understand.

01:48Prior to the attack in Pahalgam, we had more than 50 arrival flights a day from various parts of the country.

01:56That number dropped down to 15.

01:58Today that number has crossed 20, 25.

02:01Before the attack in Pahalgam, we had direct flights from Bangalore, from Ahmedabad, from Kolkata.

02:07Now the Kolkata flight has finally been restored again.

02:12But the fact is that an attack like Pahalgam was going to have an impact on the psyche of visitors.

02:19That said, which is why I made that point, Jammu and Kashmir is not empty today.

02:25It is picking up and we hope that our participation in ETF Kolkata and the fact that people at this

02:32time of the year start looking and making their plans for the Pooja holidays means that we

02:38hope that a large number of Bengali travelers will come to Jammu and Kashmir later this year.