Now Reading: Post-Pahalgam trekking ban pushes 20,000 Kashmir workers to odd jobs
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Post-Pahalgam trekking ban pushes 20,000 Kashmir workers to odd jobs
More than a year after the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack killed 26 civilians, Kashmir's trekking routes remain closed to the public due to inadequate security infrastructure and limited police presence at…
More than a year after the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack killed 26 civilians, Kashmir's trekking routes remain closed to the public due to inadequate security infrastructure and limited police presence at remote sites. The shutdown has pushed 20,000 to 30,000 adventure tourism workers, ponywallahs, guides, operators and camp owners, out of business, forcing many to take daily-wage labour earning Rs 100-500 a day, down from Rs 1,500 earlier.
Ponywallah Shabir Ahmed, 36, from Yusmarg says he will soon decide between feeding his family or his horse. Guide Junaid Ahmad, who completed government-certified courses costing Rs 15,000 each, sits idle along with 20 others in Pahalgam. Trekking agency owner Mehrajuddin Andrabi, who once led eight groups daily, now clears weeds in his orchard and searches for odd jobs, still maintaining a rented office he can no longer afford.
While prominent tourist destinations have reopened, the ban on trekking continues pending further security assessments and troop deployment. The tourism department's licensed guides and ponywallahs, who earned Rs 50,000-250,000 per trekking group, are now surviving on sporadic labour with no timeline for their industry's recovery.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The April 2025 Pahalgam attack was the deadliest on tourists in Kashmir in decades, killing 26 civilians. The subsequent Operation Sindoor cross-border strikes raised tensions, but for the valley's adventure tourism sector, worth an estimated Rs 200 crore annually, the real damage has been economic. Unlike mainstream destinations such as Gulmarg or Mughal Gardens, trekking routes lack the police infrastructure for rapid reopening. The tourism department licences guides after courses costing Rs 15,000 each, but those certifications are now worthless without trails to walk. The Jammu and Kashmir administration faces a choice: deploy significantly more personnel to remote sites, or risk a permanent loss of skilled workers who may never return to seasonal guiding. The next security review outcome, expected later this year, will determine whether 20,000 to 30,000 livelihoods resume come the 2027 summer season.
Source: thefederal.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
