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| Hoteliers restrict two day shutdown call to one day following assurances from government | | Tourists face problems as hotels, restaurants remain closed | | Jehangir Rashid
Srinagar, Oct 28: Tourists putting up in different hotels of Kashmir valley faced numerous problems as the hoteliers in the Srinagar city and the other health resorts of valley observed strike against the recent government directive to install individual Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) in their premises.
Meanwhile, the coordination committee of the hoteliers has asked the hotel owners, guest house owners and restaurant owners to resume their business on Tuesday and not to observe strike as had been decided early. The coordination committee had called for two day strike on October 28 and 29 against the government order.
In a statement, Faiz Bakshi, Chairman, Co-ordination Committee said that the hoteliers held extensive parleys with state government at the highest level as a result of which government has acknowledged that construction of individual STP'S would, in fact, serve no purpose and the construction of Common STP'S by the Government was the only solution.
"The Committee held discussions with a confidant emissary of Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah and Tourism Minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir who assured that our proposal for setting up common STP'S and sealing is under serious consideration of the Government and a workable solution will be worked out soon. The Co-ordination Committee has, therefore, decided to restrict the two day shutdown call to one day only that is on October 28," said Faiz.
The Co-ordination Committee had given the shutdown call as a mark of solidarity with the hotels which have been sealed by State Pollution Control Board, Srinagar Municipal Corporation and Pahalgam Development Authority for want of Individual Sewage Treatment Plants (STP'S) and other reasons.
"The Co-ordination Committee has all along opposed the idea of construction of individual STP'S by hotel industry as it believes that doing so will not serve any purpose if the waste water/effluent of hotels alone is treated. It would be realistic if waste water/effluent from residential areas, commercial establishments and related sources in the valley and tourist destinations is treated by common STP'S before being discharged into water bodies," said the hoteliers.
The hoteliers said that this is the only guarantee for preventing environment and water bodies from getting polluted. They said that common STP'S are constructed across the valley to preserve environment and safeguard water bodies.
"It is worthwhile to mention that a scheme namely Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission (JnNURM) for laying of sewer lines and construction of Sewage Treatment Plants (STP'S) in Srinagar /Jammu city is already under execution under the supervision of RITES. An amount of about Rs. 780 crores stands sanctioned by the Central Government for cities of Jammu and Srinagar," said the hoteliers. |
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