By Narvijay Yadav
The entire National Capital Region is covered with dust and smog these days. This has become an annual problem, which returns in winters. But this time the situation got so worse that the Supreme Court had to suggest to impose a lockdown in Delhi. It seems lockdown will continue to be a solution to every problem. If this is the situation now, then imagine how the future would be. This is still a secret that what causes this pollution. The Central Government in its affidavit filed in the Supreme Court said that stubble burning is responsible for 10% of smog, while rest of the pollution is caused by dust and smoke emanating from industrial activities, vehicular movement and building construction activities. Whatever be the case, at the moment Delhi is shocked and the smog is affecting the surrounding states of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh as well.
While the plains are reeling under air pollution, the hilly states like Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir are benefiting from it. Hotels and resorts of hill stations like Shimla, Srinagar are buzzing with tourists. Hotel occupancy in Shimla remains up to 40% on weekdays and 80% on weekends. For the first time after Covid, the hotel industry is booming now. On the other hand, hotels in J&K are also getting fully booked for the first time after 2008. The month of October usually remains lean, but this time 91,000 tourists reached Srinagar in October. Considering the level of advance booking in most hotels, it seems that winters will also be happier. However, the traders in Jammu are worried as the 149-year-old tradition of ‘Durbar Move’ has been abolished by the state government. Every year 10,000 government employees from Srinagar used to stay in Jammu for six months, benefiting the traders and house owners. Now all the fun is gone.
Green signal to foreigners
The Government of India has now opened its doors for foreign travelers. In October, chartered flights were allowed to land in India. Now after a gap of 18 months, all the restrictions have been lifted on commercial flights coming from abroad. Foreign travelers and tourists will not be quarantined upon arrival in India. Flyers coming from abroad will only need to upload their Covid negative report and vaccination certificate on the Air Suvidha portal. Tourism and hotel industry will be the biggest beneficiary of this decision. Due to the high movement of domestic tourists for the last two months, there has been a boom in tourism. The movement of foreign tourists will bring more cheer to the sector.
Retail sector on a high
The festive season has brought a smile on the faces of the retailers. The retail business witnessed a jump of 34% in the last month as compared to October 2020, and is expected to remain at the same level during the current month. The items influencing this jump include food, drink, consumer goods and jewellery. According to the Retailers Association of India, in October, each type of retail sales witnessed an increase of 6% to 31%, which was 31% to 59% higher than the previous year. This positive trend has come to the fore due to the rapid pace of Covid vaccination.
