“Number of tourist buses from Gujarat to Kashmir fallen drastically”

Ahmedabad

The number of tourist buses from Gujarat to the state of Jammu & Kashmir has fallen drastically owing to various administrative glitches, alleged poor amenities for the vehicle staff in the hilly state and ill treatment by the authorities, All Gujarat Tourist Vehicle Operator’s Federation (AGTVOF) today alleged.

Talking to newsmen here, AGTVOF Chariman Hari Patel said that the number of tourist buses to J&K, especially Kashmir valley, has gone down to only 10 to 20 a season. Earlier it was at least 200 to 250 buses per season.

‘No it has nothing to with any law and order problem. It is purely owing to the poor treatment by the authorities and lack of ammenities there. The buses are stopped outside the cities with no civic amenities nearby. We even have to pay money during every trip. The local tour operators don’t allow us to take our passengers to various tourist spots citing local rules compelling them to avail their services for sight seeing. This has made the bus tour a costly affair and virtually unviable,’ he said adding that he had made representation to the chief minister and other competent authorities of J&K but has not got any reply as yet.

Meanwhile, the Tourism Director of the state, R K Verma said that it was an issue involving various departments and would be taken up soon. ‘The Gujaratis are largest domestic visitors of our state and we don’t want them to have any problem,’ he said.

– DeshGujarat