Hardwar, Apr 23: The Uttaranchal government's decision to divert the waters of Ganga from Har-ki-Pauri to nearby Neeldhara, known as 'Gangabandi', has drastically hit tourism here. There was nearly 80 per cent fall in tourist traffic this month affecting business of shopkeepers, hoteliers and others who used to thrive during the month of April, considered to be the peak season for religious tourism, official sources said. "The tourist inflow has fallen drastically. Normally in this season, 30-40 lakh pilgrims come to the holy city but this time only 10-20 per cent tourists have come so far," Ram Kumar Mishra, president of Ganga Sabha, a representative body of nearly 2000 purohits at Har-ki-Pauri, said. Today is the sixth day without the waters of Ganga, which is being diverted to Neeldhara area because the government has decided to build a permanent bridge costing Rs three crore over the river in view of the 'ardh kumbh' mela next year and also to clean the river bed at Har-k-Pauri. For the next seven days, Har-ki-Pauri will go without the river water due to construction activities but the government has made arrangements to make available the river water for 'puja' and 'arti' purposes, through two pipes. Mishra said 'gangabandi' is an annual feature at Hardwar in the month of October to clean the river bed but claimed that the facility of water through pipes was never provided before.
The priests, hoteliers and shopkeepers are however facing a tough time with business being lax.
"No one is coming here these days due to the 'gangabandi' (diversion of the river). We are the worst hit," says Pandit Yogendra Kaushik, a purohit at Har-ki-Pauri.

Bureau Report