Business at a standstill in Garhwal, 8 weeks on

Transport operators are not getting any business since the devastation occurred in June

Jeet Singh Patwal is a worried man these days. After the June 16-17 deluge, the thriving transport business of the Garhwal Motor Owner's Union (GMOU), Uttarakhand's largest transport company, which he heads, came to a standstill.

The GMOU, which operates nearly 650 buses in the state mostly in the Garhwal region, is now plying only 50 vehicles after the Chardham yatra to Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri was suspended indefinitely owing to the devastation caused by the nature's fury. The profit of GMOU, which provides package tours to religious and various tourist destinations, is expected to come down by half this financial year, Patwal said. "Our losses have gone up to Rs 12.5 crore so far," said Patwal.

Patwal appealed to the Centre and the state government to suspend loan repayments of all transport operators who have taken loans from banks to buy buses.

Patwal may be a big player in the state transport network. But others who ply small vehicles like trekkers, Tata Sumos and private taxis in the Chardham route were also hit by the natural calamity. Nearly 1,000 such vehicles operate from Rishikesh and Haridwar alone to various destinations.

"We are not getting any business since the devastation occurred in June," said Krishan Lal Chauhan, a taxi driver. A large number of people have taken loans from banks under the Veer Singh Garhwali scheme, which promotes new entrepreneurship in the state.

Hundreds who run small eateries along the Badrinath-Kedarnath and Gangotri-Yamunotri highways have also been affected. According to the Industries Association of Uttarakhand (IAU), an SME promotion body, nearly 43,000 people working in over 19,590 registered MSMEs may be without jobs, as the devastation has hit a large area of the hill state that include Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh districts.

"If we also count unregistered units, the problem will be much bigger," said Pankaj Gupta, president of the IAU.

The state tourism department is working on a plan to provide special incentives to entrepreneurs whose hotels, dhabas and vehicles have suffered losses due to the devastation and suspension of the yatra. Tourism minister Amrita Rawat has urged the Centre to provide a special package of Rs 3,560 crore for the battered tourism sector.

According to Manu Kochhar, vice-chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Utarakhand State Council, the government must provide a series of sops in order to provide succour to these entrepreneurs whose businesses have suffered.

Kochhar said the government must give a five-year exemption from luxury tax, VAT and entertainment tax. "A freeze on the 30 per cent entertainment tax is necessary in places like Mussoorie and Nainital where the business of hotels has also suffered badly," said Kochhar.

"The government must focus on livelihood programmes in the flood-hit areas," said Vibha Malhotra, director of the CII state council office here.