From Saurav Borah
KOHORA (Golaghat): Between mid December and January, the central range of Kaziranga National Park here is generally abuzz with activity, with tourists — foreign and domestic — queuing up for jeep and elephant rides since dawn.
Not this season, though, with tourist footfalls close to zilch, post the agitation against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
“I have been driving jeeps on safaris at this range for the past 15 years. But this has, by far, been the worst scenario in terms of tourist arrivals here and business. Yes, the demonetisation drive three years back did take a toll on trade, but not as much as now,” rued Ananta Gogoi, a resident of Bokakhat.
Tourists have access to over 400 jeeps for safaris across four ranges of KNP — Kohora, Bagori, Agoratoli and Burapahar.
“The trend of business can be gauged from Kohora itself, which has as many as 260 jeeps on offer. But between mid-December and mid-January this season, I have been lucky to get just one trip in four days on an average as against three trips per day in the corresponding period in the previous seasons,” he said.
As it is, the anti-CAA agitation has, in general, hit Assam’s tourism sector hard, with officials citing an estimated loss of about Rs 500 crore during December 2019.
Jeep safaris apart, the hotels and a few home-stays near the world heritage site here, too, have been hit as occupancy levels have dipped substantially since mid-December as many bookings were cancelled fearing agitation-induced problems.
“However, these hotels that you see here are owned by people from outside the district. We are local people with no jobs to hinge on. On an average, a jeep safari driver earns about Rs 1 lakh during the season. However, we anticipate a much lower earning this season. During off-season, we depend on small-time farming to make ends meet on other days,” Ananta said. The elephant safaris, too, are not as visible this season when juxtaposed with previous peak periods.
Tulasi Gogoi, another jeep safari driver here, however hoped that the dip in tourist inflow would improve in the coming days.
“During the past two weeks, though, tourists, mainly domestic, have trickled in somewhat, even as the flow has been far below our expectations. This has been the leanest season in recent years. But we hope for better footfalls and business soon,” he said.