J-K: 72-hour shutdown begins against ropeway project in Katra

Jammu: Shopkeepers, and pony and palanquin owners on Friday began a 72-hour shutdown against a proposed ropeway project in Katra, the base camp for the pilgrims visiting Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir.

The protesters raised slogans against the Shrine Board and demanded that the project be shelved.

The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) had approved a Rs 250-crore passenger ropeway project between Tarakote Marg to Sanji Chhat along the 12-km track to the revered shrine.

The shopkeepers and pony and palanquin owners -- who routinely assist thousands of pilgrims -- are apprehensive that the ropeway construction will render them jobless.

"We will not allow the ropeway project to be implemented in Katra. We have been fighting against it for three years. Assurances were given to us in the past, but now they have gone ahead with the project," Shopkeepers' association leader Prabhat Singh told reporters here.

Asserting that the project would hurt the region's economy, Singh said thousands of families rely on the earnings from business establishments and services for pilgrims.

"We have started our 72-hour-long strike. If they do not concede to our demand of shelving the project, we will continue with the strike," he said.

Last week, the SMVDSB decided to implement the long-awaited ropeway project to facilitate a safer and faster journey for the yatris.

"The ropeway project will be a game changer, especially for those pilgrims who find it challenging to undertake the 13-km steep trek to the shrine," SMVDSB CEO Anshul Garg had said.