Bathinda: The terror attack at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir has taken a toll on tour operators from Punjab as scores of tourists have cancelled their bookings in the last few days.
Over 12,000 taxis were booked for Jammu and Kashmir from the state and most of them have been cancelled. Owing to an early summer this year, a large number of people had booked tourist vehicles in advance to go to Jammu and Kashmir. Ramandeep Singh, Pandit Ram Krishna and Jaswinder Singh, drivers of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Taxi Union located on Amrik Singh Road in Bathinda, said that they have been driving tourists to Jammu and Kashmir since 2011. Every year, they organize 15 to 20 tours to Jammu and Kashmir during the summer.
"But this time due to the terrorist attack, there is an atmosphere of fear among the people and a large number of them are canceling their tour programmes, they said. Taxi union drivers said that they have suffered a huge financial loss due to these canceled tour programs. The situation is such that they are worried about paying installments of their vehicles. "Since most of the vehicles have been bought on loan, after such large number of cancelations, taxi drivers are facing a lot of difficulties financially," said a driver.
The drivers said the impact of the Pahalgam terror attack may also be felt during the Amarnath Yatra due to start from next month. They appealed people of the country to maintain harmony.
