News

India’s longest steel bridge on Manali-Leh highway to open soon

After opening Atal Tunnel for public traffic last weekend, Himachal Pradesh is now ready to inaugurate the longest bridge on the Manali-Leh highway this month. Besides improving the flow of traffic, the new bridge, Barsi Bridge, is expected to prove helpful in increased load carrying ability. The bridge, spanning 360 m, took around 10 years to be ready for use. The difficulties arose during the construction in the form of difficult terrain, limited working season and inclement weather due to the winter season. Barsi Bridge runs over Bhaga river at Darcha and is the second longest bridge in the country; the first one being Col Chewang Rinchen Setu on Shyok river, enroute world’s highest landing ground in Ladakh at Daulat Beg Oldie. Darcha is located in Lahaul region, about 33 kms ahead of Keylong, at a height of 11020 ft. It is the last permanent settlement on this route in the state. News has it that the bridge is a steel truss structure, and has a load-bearing super structure made of a rigid assembly of steel beams. The bridge has abutments on both the ends and additionally, the length is held by five piers emerging from the river bed. The project has been accomplished by 70 Road Construction Company of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) that has also constructed the 100 m steel truss bridge that links the north gate of Atal Tunnel under the Rohtang Pass.

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Gulmarg Gondola opens for tourists after six months

Gulmarg Gondola, one of Asia’s largest and highest cable cars surrounded by pine forests and Himalayan mountain peaks in the ski resort of Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir, has opened for tourists this week after remaining shut for six months due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Officials said that tourists have started trickling in amid proper Covid-19 protocols of social distancing and masks, to enjoy the breathtaking beauty offered by the mountainous meadow. The first phase of the Gondola was opened for a day on September 27, World Tourism Day and then it resumed daily operations from Saturday taking tourists to Kongdori Mountain at a height of 8,530 ft. “We had decided to operate the Gondola on weekends but then the government decided to open the first phase everyday from Saturday,” said Assistant Manager Gulmarg Gondola Project, Fayaz Ahmad. He said that the tourists both locals and visitors from different states of the country have started coming in. “On an average, around 50 people ride the ropeway every day. Over the weekend, the number was around 150. Around 30 percent of visitors were from different states of the country,” he said. The Gondola was closed after the government imposed lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 in mid-March. On normal days, the cable car records a daily footfall of 2000 to 3000 people generating daily revenue of Rs 35 to 40 lakh. Each ticket costs Rs 740 per person for the first phase and Rs 950 for the second phase which takes a person to a height of 12,293 ft. Proper Covid-19 protocols are in place to avoid any congestion or close contact of the visitors with each other. Instead of six in normal days, only three tourists are allowed to ride in a single Gondola car. There is sanitization of cabins before and after boarding and de-boarding of passengers besides compulsory wearing of masks. The tourism industry nosedived in Kashmir since August 5, 2019 when the special status of the erstwhile state was revoked and restrictions imposed on movement of people and communication shut for months. Two days before the revocation of Article 370, around 20,000 to 25,000 tourists were present in Kashmir and they all were asked to leave the Valley along with Amarnath pilgrims. The situation was then aggravated by the Covid-19 lockdown since March 2020. Ahmad said that the Gondola project has been facing a slump since August 5, 2019. “Later Covid-19 shut it completely,” he said. He hoped that the number of tourists would increase in the coming days. “Gulmarg and Gondola have become synonymous and people have started coming despite Covid-19. Winter is approaching and travel agents have told us that bookings are being made for October end. Let’s hope for the best,” he said.

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Rishikesh draws over 8,000 tourists for river rafting within 10 days of re-opening

Within just ten days of the resumption of river rafting after a gap of six months, over 8,000 tourists have flocked to Rishikesh in Uttarakhand to participate in adventure sports activity, officials said Tuesday. Dinesh Bhatt, president of Rafting Association in Rishikesh said that Rishikesh alone recorded over 6,000 tourists coming in for river rafting in the last three days “In the past ten days, since the Uttarakhand government allowed resumption of river rafting, Rishikesh has welcomed over 8,000 tourists, with almost 6,000 people coming to participate in river rafting in the past three days over the long weekend,” said Bhatt. He added that the response has been well with business picking up, but the rafting companies are still facing minor losses while practicing physical distancing. “Earlier, ten persons were allowed in a single raft, but now, only four tourists are going, with two guides in one raft. We have not increased our prices, so we are facing some loss, but safety is important for us,” Bhatt said. Dilip Jawalkar, secretary for tourism in Uttarakhand said adventure tourism is a major component in the state’s overall tourism industry. “I am happy that our step towards resuming the adventure sports activities have achieved the desired results and has attracted a large number of adventure seekers to the state,” he said He added that while activities for tourists are being opened up, the state government expects full cooperation from all the stakeholders to ensure effective implementation of rules and guidelines to control the spread of Covid-19 in the state.

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Mumbai airport to increase domestic flights by 50 per cent

Mumbai airport has plans to increase its domestic flight movement by 50 per cent from next week onwards. This move is in line with the announcement made by the Maharashtra state government that has allowed an increase in domestic flights to and from the state by 50 per cent. Currently, around 100 daily domestic arrivals and as many departures are allowed from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA). This number, however, is reported to has gone up to 150 daily domestic arrivals and as many departures from this month, thereby taking the number of 200 domestic arrivals-cum-departures to 300. Reportedly, airlines have been allowed to add flights whenever there is a need or they can. As per the reports, the further increase in the number of flights should get started from early next week. Likewise, Chennai currently allows 50 daily domestic departures and as many arrivals, and is also planning to double these numbers. Recently, the Mumbai airport also launched COVID-19 testing facility for all arriving passengers. This allowed international passengers to opt out of institutional quarantine, depending upon their test results. The latest facility to provide 24x7 Coronavirus testing at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) was launched after the GMR group-owned Delhi airport set up a similar facility on its premises. However, air travel in the country is slowly turning towards normalcy now, after dealing with all the crises and restrictions due to COVID-19. Reportedly, on October 2, India recorded 176601 domestic passengers, which is the highest daily number of passengers since air travel started operations back.

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Agra records 25% increase in tourist traffic

Wth the monuments remaining closed for nearly seven months, the tourism industry of Agra had entered tough times. However, as soon as the Taj Mahal and other monuments opened in September, the tourism industry got a boost. Industry sources indicate that, even though there is not a footfall of international tourists who form the mainstay of handicrafts business, the influx of domestic tourists has been beyond expectations in the current scenario when Covid-19 is still going strong in the country. Not just the Taj Mahal, but other monuments like the Agra Fort Sikandra, Itmad-ud-Daulah, and Fatehpur Sikri are seeing a large number of foreign tourists visiting throughout the day. According to the information made available by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) sources, compared to past Sunday, the number of tourists coming to Agra on this weekend was 25 per cent higher. Agra Tourist Welfare Chamber Secretary Vishal Sharma said that the number of domestic tourists is expected to rise even more as the year comes to an end, adding that this will ultimately assist the tourism industry in making a partial recovery from the damage it has faced in the past six months. Sources informed that this Monday, the Taj Mahal was visited by three dozen foreign tourists, one dozen SAARC [South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation] and BIMSTEC [Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation ] tourists, and over 4,000 domestic tourists, which is only slightly less than the daily limit set by the ASI for visiting the Taj Mahal. On Saturday and Sunday, this number almost reached the daily limit. Sharma said that the number of tourists is the key for the recovery of the tourism industry of Agra, and since the daily limit at the Taj Mahal has been fixed at 5,000, it could be used as a leverage to promote night stay for tourists who fail to make it in the daily quota for the monument and have to wait another day to visit it.

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Tourism Activities Restart in South Andaman Districts, Local Administration Gears Up for Covid-19 Testing

Andaman and Nicobar administration has opened tourist activities in the South Andaman, while North and Middle Islands are still closed for tourists. So far, Andaman has 186 active coronavirus cases, while authorities have decided to open ecotourism sites, museums, Cellular Jail (including Light & Sound Shows), Havelock Island (Swaraj Dweep), Neil Islands, and water sports are also fully functional. “Yes, we have opened the tourist activities in South Andaman and recently we have formally announced it. We have also re-deployed our tourist police in all the important spots to assist the people who will come for vacation. We also hosted a small ceremony in front of Cellular Jail to review our preparedness to handle tourists,” Director General of Police, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dependra Pathak told News18. “The number of cases here is less as compared to other parts of India. I am sure re-opening of tourist activities would certainly help lakhs of people associated with the industry,” he added. Following Covid-19 protocol, the local administration has also made all necessary arrangements for coronavirus testing for passengers visiting the Islands, while the tourism industry has been asked to adhere to all the precautionary measures to contain the spread of the virus. Tourism activities were stopped in the Archipelago on March 16, following a Covid-19 triggered nationwide lockdown. President of the Andaman Association of Tour Operators, M Vinod welcomed the decision and was hopeful to see good tourist inflow in the coming few weeks. “In 2019, we saw more than 4 lakhs tourists in Andaman and this year we expect a little less due to lockdowns in the past. But from April, 2021 onwards we are expecting good numbers of tourists as most of them are opting Andaman because it is comparatively safe from COVID as compared to other places.” “As precautionary measures, all the staff were asked to sanitize their vessels/vehicles before and after every trip. I would like to assure the tourists that they can happily come here as we are here to take care of them as our guests,” he added. For the last few months the Governor D K Joshi, Chief Secretary Chetan Sanghi, and the Director-General of Police, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dependra Pathak have taken several measures and held multiple meetings to handle the pandemic effectively. As per the Union Home Ministry’s statistic - from 2015 to 2018, nearly 16 Lakhs tourists visited Andamans. In 2017, it received 4,87,229 tourists, including 15,310 foreigners. In 2018, nearly 5.13 lakh tourists, including over 20,000 foreigners visited the Islands.

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