Uttarakhand government plans to record Kedarnath pilgrims' fingerprints

In the wake of the recent natural disaster, the Uttarakhand Government has decided to record the fingerprints of pilgrims to the Char Dham in the state.

Talking to Express on the sidelines of Tourism Fest meeting, State’s Additional Secretary (Tourism) Sachin Kurve said the state government would also ask the pilgrims to  register themselves to enable the authorities concerned to keep a tab on them. “It will help us to evacuate them, if any untoward incident takes place,” he said.

Kurve said the registration process would be soon streamlined and organised. While admitting that about 20 per cent of tourist destinations in the state usually get affected by natural calamities, he stressed that the remaining 80 per cent of locations, including Nanital, Mussorie and Ranikhet, were totally safe. 

Pointing out that the tourist footfall has, of late, dropped considerably, he said the fear factor has been adversely affecting the tourism industry in the state.

He said 95 per cent of hotel booking were cancelled in Nanital and Mussorie alone, resulting in a loss of around `40 crore.

“The tourism industry in the state has suffered a loss of `5,000 crore this year as a result of the natural disaster,” Kurve said and added that the industry has contributed only 25 to 30 per cent to the state exchequer.

Expressing hope that the state would have a good tourism season, he said the pooja would begin in Kedarnath temple from September 4, while the state of Himachal Pradesh would be ready to welcome   adventure tourists from September 15.

“Kedarnath and Parvat temples are now safe. From October, re-building of damaged tourist and other infrastructure will start in the state,” Kurve said.

According to sources, the Asian Development Bank has in principle decided to provide $30 million to the state, while the World Bank has promised $10 million for undertaking re-building activities.

The hill state of Himachal Pradesh, also affected by the natural disaster in   Uttarakhand and in its Kinnaur district, has also seen a significant drop in the tourist bookings, said Director Tourism Himachal Pradesh Subhasish Panda.

He said there are plans to start houseboats in all the water bodies in the state to attract more tourists.

Indian Express