Dwindling flow of visitors at Attari border affecting livelihood of workers

Escalation in tension between India and Pakistan has brought down the flow of tourists which has also affected the livelihood of people earning their living by working at dhabas, tea stalls, selling national flags, tricolour caps and other patriotic material at the Attari border.

Tourists visiting the holy city head to Attari to watch the retreat ceremony which is held every evening in which border guards of both countries lower their national flags and do a rhythmic march past.

Before the Pahalgam terror strike, the flow of tourists used to be over 20,000 per day. According to sources at the Attari international land route, the number of visitors has halved after the massacre.

A resident of Pucca village, Bachhan Singh sells tiny national flags, tricolour caps, T-shirts and other small articles to the visitor to eke out a living. He says his daily earning is now between Rs 300 to Rs 400 while it used to be between Rs 600 to Rs 800 before April 22. He held the terrorists responsible for this decline in his daily earnings. They targeted innocent unarmed tourists who had gone to Kashmir valley to enjoy with their families, he said.

About 150 hawkers sell different items to visitors in front of the Joint Check Post (JCP) and Integrated Check Post (ICP) which also serves as a land route to enter Pakistan. Theirs is not an isolated case as the daily earnings of other hawkers have also declined. Many of them are not coming daily from their villages located far away to sell merchandise as they complain that it is not financially viable to spend Rs 100 on transportation to earn about Rs 300. Says Jasbir, a young hawker: “What is the fun of coming to the place in the scorching heat, when we would earn only a pittance.” He cursed Pakistan for nurturing terrorists.

There are several shops and kiosks selling tea, snacks, biscuits, soft drinks. Some dhabas serving freshly cooked meals dot the place that solely depends upon tourists for sales. They have found their income dwindling post-Pahalgam terror strike.

Arshdeep Singh Shah, a dhaba owner, is of the view that they did not feel the pinch immediately after the attack because Pakistani nationals in India thronged Attari to cross over to their country and Indians in Pakistan returned through the same land route, following strict directions issued by the Union government. Their numbers offered them enough customers throughout the day as they kept waiting for their turn. So, their sales remained impressive. Now, with the complete closure of Attari land route, they are solely dependent upon visitors who come to watch the retreat ceremony in the evening.

On way from Amritsar to Attari, a stretch of about 30 km, there are several restaurants, eating joints and stores that depend upon tourists for their earnings. They also found their sales crashing with the decline in number of tourists.

A hotelier Jaspinder Singh said the fall in the number of tourists had taken place all across north India. After the Pahalgam terror strike, a majority of the people are of the view that the Modi government at Centre would strike as it had done previously during the earlier surgical strike. Therefore, people are avoiding visiting Jammu and Kashmir. A majority of the tourists arriving in Amritsar are those who have their itinerary prepared for the mountainous state.

Amritsar