TeaThe upper reaches of the Pir Panchal mountain range in the Lesser Himalayas are covered with fresh snow, forcing large-billed crows to fly downwards in search of food. The village he frequently visits is Rayar, a village nestled in the hills adjacent to Dudhpathri in central Kashmir’s Budgam district. It is about 43 kilometers from Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Seeing crows sitting on leafless apple and walnut trees, Rafika Jaan, 38, complains that they keep cawing loudly – which is considered a bad omen.
With its vast grasslands, crystal clear streams and evergreen pine trees, Dudhpathri has been an increasingly popular choice for both domestic and international tourists over the years. However, this year it remains deserted and quiet. It is among the 48 destinations that were closed to tourists Earlier this year, 26 people were killed in the terrorist attack on Baisaran ground in Pahalgam on April 22.
Jaan and her husband, a labourer, live on the outskirts of Dudhpathri. It has been a tiring day for him, walking through the nearby forests full of dense pine trees to collect wood for cooking.
In 2024, Jaan will earn enough money from her tea shop to buy cooking gas cylinders. His stall was mostly visited by tourists – couples in love, honeymooners, and friends and families wanting to see and touch the snow on the slopes.
“I will make a profit of ₹500-2,000 per day, depending on the number of tourists. More tourists come here during the winter months as the place is covered with a thick blanket of snow,” she says. “But this year it all came to a halt. All our plans, from organizing weddings to renovating our homes, from buying new winter clothes to getting new furnishings for our homes, have been ruined,” says Jaan, whose son was selected for the MBBS course at a government medical college in Jammu last year.
Jaan took a loan of ₹60,000 to pay his son’s first year fees in college. “I thought I would repay the amount this year,” she says. “I was hoping for a boost in business from tourists.” “But the year is almost over and I have failed. Now we face the most stressful winter months of our lives.”
change in status of women
By September, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had reopened 28 of the 48 sites in the Kashmir Valley in a phased manner. The rest are awaiting approval from his office.
places reopened This also includes Pahalgam, where the attack took placeAnd popular tourist destinations like Gulmarg and Sonamarg. Dudhpathri, located more than 126 km from Pahalgam and surrounded by a series of mountain ranges, remains close along with other major sites like Yusmarg, Tosamaidan, Drang, Neelnag and Aharbal. This decision has affected thousands of local people of these places, who earn their livelihood from tourism.
According to official sources in the Governor’s office, the safety audit is still ongoing and the destinations will be reopened once the audit is completed. As of now, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel are monitoring Dudhpathri and Jammu and Kashmir Police have put up a barricade to ensure that outsiders, including journalists, do not enter these destinations.
Less than 50,000 tourists visited Dudhpathri in 2011; This increased to an all-time high of 18 lakh in 2024. This year, according to tourism department data, only 1.25 lakh people visited here in the first four months.
The rapidly growing tourism in Dudhpathri not only changed the economy here but also changed the status of women. Jan is one of the 200 women from Rayar and surrounding villages who broke all barriers by becoming the first owners of roadside tea shops in Kashmir.
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“For the first time in our lives, we were like the working men in our villages, earning our own money and meeting our needs. We also started buying new clothes without pressure from our husbands and eating what we wanted,” says Naseem Bano, 40, who in 2020 was one of the first few women in the area to sit on the streets and serve roasted corn to visitors.
As the number of tourists increased over time, more women set up tea shops in and around Dudhpathri. Social media ‘influencers’ soon reached these stalls to shoot the reels kehwaA warming concoction of crushed almonds, saffron, cardamom and cinnamon. The stalls also popularized home-made collard greens, onion and walnut chutney, pickles and cornmeal breads.
“In one and two, we started selling roasted maize to tourists in 2021. This business gradually took off. Despite initial reluctance and opposition from the men, we continued to do so and created a niche for ourselves,” says Bano.
A woman makes corn flour bread and sells salty tea to locals at her roadside shop in Reyar village. , Photo Courtesy: Imran Nisar
A tourist center waits with bated breath
As of 2011 census, Rayar has a population of 1,937. Ghulam Hasan Shaikh is the owner of the popular Lal Bab restaurant here. He says his 32-year-old son Bashir Ahmed Sheikh, who used to drive a taxi until 2021, started earning more from the restaurant business. “Many laborers from Rayar village, who used to work as carpenters and plumbers in Srinagar, also turned to the tourism sector to earn their livelihood,” says Shaikh.
Dudhpathri Development Authority (DDA) officials say there are about 400 families in Rayar of which 80% are dependent on tourism. “We don’t understand why Doodhpathri is closed while Pahalgam is open. It feels as if we are being punished for someone else’s sins,” says Shaikh.
The crisis is increasing among those raising loans for investment in the tourism sector. Bashir Ahmed, 21, took a loan of ₹5.5 lakh in September 2024 and invested in an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) in view of the surge in tourist numbers. An ice shield has been covering it since April 29.
“I have to pay around ₹10,000 as monthly EMI (equated monthly instalment). This growing economic crisis will force us to sell our land to repay the loan,” says a worried Ahmed.
He lives in a single-storey house with his elder brother, two sisters and parents. “I used to earn even up to ₹2,000 a day,” he says. “These days, I sell spices to survive.”
According to the DDA, in 2024, 1,500 locals were registered as laborers and horse owners, 200 as tea shop owners, and 50 as ATV operators. The government gives tender for parking and ticketing to private players. The ticketing counter, tendered for ₹1.5 crore, has not generated any revenue this year and payment is outstanding.
“Dudhpathari was emerging as a major winter destination. We were getting a lot of queries from potential tourists and filmmakers,” says Riyaz Ahmed Beigh, chief executive officer, DDA. “Due to the current condition of the destination we are not able to grant permission. We have also received several representations from various stakeholders to reopen it for winter. We are hopeful that it will reopen soon.”
In 2024, the DDA granted 29 permissions for shooting films and music videos at the destination. The government intends to introduce activities like skiing and paragliding for the entertainment of visitors this year. These plans have been stopped.
The situation is equally serious in Aharbal of Kulgam, about 50 km from Dudhpathri. Aharbal is home to a 25 meter high waterfall on the Veshu River, known as the ‘Niagara Falls of Kashmir’. Junaid Dar, an arts graduate, and two of his friends took a loan and invested in a guest house in Kulgam to cater to the rush of tourists visiting the waterfall. Dar says he is unable to sleep due to worry.
crisis at the epicenter
Pahalgam attack has given a big blow to Kashmir’s tourism industry. This year. “Kashmir has not been able to touch even 25-30% of the record number of tourists (26 lakh) in 2024,” says Farooq Kuthu, president of the Travel Agents Association of Kashmir.
Official figures say Kashmir received 7.53 lakh tourists and 7.38 lakh tourists, including 15,319 foreigners, in the first six months this year. This is a decline of more than 52% compared to 15.65 lakh in the same period of 2024.
The continuous closure of major destinations has affected the travel itineraries as well as the number of days of stay of tourists. “For a one-week trip, tourists get a chance to visit the golden triangle of Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg. However, we could not create a detailed itinerary that included major off-beat destinations like Dudhpathri and Aharbal. The closure has impacted tourists who want to stay for two weeks and enjoy the off-beat destinations more,” says Kuthu.
After the attack, hotel staff are continuously being retrenched in Pahalgam. “The layoff rate in most hotels this year is 40-50%,” says Koothu, who is also an executive member of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries, the valley’s leading traders’ organisation.
Pahalgam has a population of around 10,000. Without orchards or rice fields, its economy is driven by tourism. Many people say that most of the unemployed youth in and around Pahalgam resort to tourism to earn their livelihood. “Many of them formed groups and raised loans to rent property for a year. They have been the worst affected. The situation has pushed many into depression,” says Kuthu.
About 12 destinations reopened in September this year, including the famous trekking base of Aru, about 15 km from Pahalgam. From Aru tourists head towards high altitude lakes like Tarsar and Marsar. Many hotel owners in Aru village, which has a population of around 4,000, claim that the closure has broken the confidence of foreign tourists who often come for trekking.
Kurshid Ahmed, owner of Aru Heights, says this year is the worst tourist season since the 1990s. He says, “Aru was never closed to tourists before. It has been attracting foreign tourists for years and has been peaceful overall. We had earned the trust of tourists for some time by providing a safe environment. All that has been ruined.”
The Union Tourism Ministry had declared Aru as one of the winners of the Best Tourism Village Contest 2024 on World Tourism Day.
The closure of major destinations has also affected local taxi operators, guides and travel agents at many places. In Srinagar, Tanveer Dar, who runs The Kashmir Cabs, says, “We have been serving tourists with two taxis for the last three decades. In 2023, we took a bank loan to add three more to build a fleet for new or lesser-known destinations. All the drivers and cars assigned to these locations have failed to make any profit.”
Many Srinagar-based travel companies have reduced their workforce due to the prolonged closure. Akhtar Khan, a tour operator, says, “We get many queries throughout the year for destinations like Aharbal and Yusmarg, but we have had no guests. Due to the decline in the number of passengers, we had to cut the number of staff.”
Many local people involved in adventure tourism are also idle as trekking in most of the mountain passes around the Kashmir Valley has also been closed.
not on the same page
The elected government of Jammu and Kashmir led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is not in agreement with the Lieutenant Governor administration on keeping tourist places closed for a long time. Abdullah says the Jammu and Kashmir government, even at the height of terrorism in 1996, did not take any drastic steps by keeping tourist places out of bounds. He has repeatedly requested the Lieutenant Governor’s administration to reopen all destinations.
Abdullah, who inaugurated tourism projects including Asia’s longest ski drag lift at an altitude of 4,390 meters on December 13 and a revolving conference hall, said, “The policy of closing destinations sends the wrong message to the people. Kashmir has to face far more difficult situations. The unnecessary closure has caused losses to local stakeholders including hoteliers, tour operators, transporters and thousands of families dependent on the region.” “Claims of normalcy appear hollow due to closed tourist destinations,” he said.
In Rayar, Jaan says that the continued closure of Doodhpathri is not only shattering dreams but also affecting the hard-earned respect and economic status. independence (Freedom) which many women tasted for the first time. “I pray five times a day that the destination reopens soon and we start earning again,” says Jain.
