U'khand to formulate new policy on rafting

The Uttarakhand government has decided to formulate a new rafting policy to promote adventure sports in the hill state, with an aim to generate '1,000 crore revenue and attract more tourists.

For this purpose, the government has set up a high-power committee of top bureaucrats to finalise the draft of the new policy amid reports that a move was afoot to auction Ganga beaches, where the raft operators set up their camps. The committee members are meeting on October 15 to finalise the modalities of the new policy, top officials told Business Standard.

But a war of nerve is already brewing as the forest department wants to take control of the rafting business from the tourism department. The business is currently hovering around Rs 25-30 crore.

Significantly, the meeting is being convened at a time when Tourism Principal Secretary Rakesh Sharma, who is the member of the committee, is abroad. Since, Sharma will not be able to attend the meeting, the tourism department will not be able to represent itself. In such a case, the tourism department believes that the forest department may have an upper edge and calls for postponing the meeting.

On the other hand, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has already made it clear that auctioning of the Ganga beaches is the only profitable option before the government in order to generate more revenue.

According to an estimate, nearly 50,000 people are associated with the adventure business in Uttarakhand.

The tourism businesses comprising nearly 109 rafting companies operate between the 70 km long stretch of Devprayag and Muni-Ki-Reti which is considered to be an ideal location for the adventure activities. Thousands of tourists from home and abroad visit this place. The main demand of the rafting companies is that the government should not interfere into their business which they have nurtured over the years.