Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived in Uttarkashi on a one-day winter visit, has done a strong branding of winter pilgrimage and tourism in Uttarakhand from Mukhwa and Harshil. The Prime Minister invited pilgrims, tourists, corporate and film industry to visit Uttarakhand in the winter season.
The Prime Minister has branded winter tourism in Uttarakhand as ‘Gham Taapo Tourism’.
While addressing a public meeting in Harshil on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi first expressed his grief for the people who died in the avalanche in Mana a few days ago. After this, the Prime Minister said that this land of Uttarakhand is full of spiritual energy. Expressing his heartfelt attachment to Uttarakhand, the Prime Minister said that he feels blessed to be among his family members at the winter seat of life-giving mother Ganga. The Prime Minister said that it was due to the grace of mother Ganga that he got the privilege of serving Uttarakhand for decades. It is due to the blessings of mother Ganga that he has reached Kashi and is serving Kashi as an MP. That is why he said that it is mother Ganga who has called him to Kashi. The Prime Minister said in a philosophical manner that a few months ago he felt as if mother Ganga has adopted him, now it is due to the affection of mother Ganga towards her child that he himself has been able to reach Mukhwa village today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that after coming to the land of Harshil, he is also remembering his Didi Bhuli, because she keeps sending him Rajma and other local products of Harshil.
The Prime Minister said that a few years ago when he had come to visit Baba Kedarnath, after the darshan of Baba, he suddenly expressed the sentiment that this decade is going to belong to Uttarakhand. These sentiments may have been his, but the power behind them was of Baba Kedarnath. Now with the blessings of Baba, these words are slowly turning into reality. This decade is now becoming the decade of Uttarakhand. New paths are opening up for the progress of Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand is fulfilling the aspirations with which it was born, by taking new goals and resolutions every day.
Emphasizing on winter pilgrimage – tourism, the Prime Minister said that through this, a great help will be given in realizing the economic potential of Uttarakhand. Congratulating Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami for this innovative initiative, the Prime Minister said that it is very important for Uttarakhand to make its tourism sector multidimensional or perennial. 356 days of tourism is necessary in Uttarakhand. He wants that no tourism season should be off in Uttarakhand, rather tourism should be on in every season. The Prime Minister said that at present most of the tourists come to the mountains only between March to June, whereas after this the number of tourists decreases a lot. Right now in the winter season, hotels, resorts, homestays remain vacant. This imbalance slows down the economy of Uttarakhand for a large part of the year. While the truth is that if people from the country and abroad come here in winter, they will see the aura of Devbhoomi in the true sense. In winter tourism, people will get the thrill of activities like trekking, skiing here.
The Prime Minister said that winter is a very special time for religious travel in Uttarakhand. Special rituals are performed at many pilgrimage sites here at this time. The ritual performed in Mukhwa village here is a part of our ancient tradition, hence the Uttarakhand government’s vision of all-year tourism will connect people with divine experience. This will create employment opportunities here throughout the year.
The Prime Minister said that the double engine government is working together to make Uttarakhand a developed state. From Chardham, all-weather road, modern expressway to railway and heli-services, everything is expanding in the state. Just a day ago, the Central Government has approved the ropeway for Kedarnath and Hemkund Sahib. Through the Kedarnath ropeway, the eight to nine hour long journey on foot will be completed in 30 minutes. This will make the journey easier for the elderly, women and children.
The Prime Minister said that the number of tourists in Uttarakhand is increasing rapidly, before 2014 only 18 lakh tourists used to come every year for Char Dham Yatra, now more than 50 lakh tourists are coming every year for Char Dham Yatra. The Prime Minister said that 50 tourist destinations are being developed in this year’s budget. Through this, the government is trying to bring tourists to the border areas of Uttarakhand. He said that earlier the border villages were called the last villages, but now they are being called the first villages. In this sequence, Vibrant Village Yojana has been started for the development of border villages, through which Nelang and Jadung villages are being resettled. The Prime Minister said that basic facilities are being added for tourists in Timbersain, Mahadevsain, Mana and Jadung villages of Uttarakhand. Jadung was evacuated during the China war in 1962, now after 70 years the government is resettling this village.
The Prime Minister appealed to people from all over the country, especially the youth, to visit Uttarakhand in winters and said that in winters when there is fog in a large part of the country, you can enjoy the sunshine in the mountains. In Garhwali it is called ‘Gham Tapo Paryatan’. The Prime Minister appealed to the corporate sector of the country to join winter tourism in Uttarakhand and said that there can be no better place than Devbhoomi for corporate meetings, conferences, seminars, exhibitions. By coming here you can recharge yourself through yoga and Ayurveda. Similarly, youth from colleges, universities, schools can come to Uttarakhand for winter trips.
The Prime Minister said that we have a wedding economy of thousands of crores of rupees. That is why he had appealed to the countrymen to get married in the country under Wed in India. The countrymen can give priority to Uttarakhand for wedding destination in the winter season. Similarly, the film industry of India can turn to Uttarakhand, Uttarakhand has received the award of Most Film Friendly State. Excellent facilities are being developed here for film shooting. The Prime Minister said that many countries of the world are known for winter tourism, Uttarakhand can learn a lot from them. For this, all the stakeholders of Uttarakhand tourism should study together. The Prime Minister said that there are hot springs in many places in Uttarakhand, these can be developed as wellness spas. The great people of religious, spiritual and yoga world can organize special yoga camps in their places in winter.
Referring to the exhibition on winter tourism in Harshil, the Prime Minister said that he felt like going back fifty years and spending a few days at all these places. The Prime Minister said that we should take the help of content creators to spread the information about winter tourism in Uttarakhand to the people, a competition can be organized for this. The Prime Minister concluded his address with the slogan Ganga Maiya Ki Jai.
Chief Minister Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami welcomed Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on behalf of all the people of the state on his arrival at Mukhwa, the home of Maa Ganga and Harshil Valley in the border area. He said that it is our good fortune that along with the all-round development of Uttarakhand, we have always received the guidance and support of the Prime Minister in furthering the spiritual and cultural heritage here. Be it the successful organization of the Global Investors Summit in Uttarakhand, organizing meetings of the world-class G-20 conference, implementing laws like UCC or the grand organization of the 38th National Games held recently in Uttarakhand, the state has always received guidance from the Prime Minister. He said that whenever any disaster has struck Uttarakhand, be it the natural disaster on the Kedarnath Yatra route, the landslide in Joshimath, the Silkyara Tunnel or the recent avalanche near Mana village in Chamoli. The Prime Minister has always stood with us.
The Chief Minister thanked the Prime Minister for giving the gift of construction of ropeway from Gaurikund to Kedarnath at a cost of Rs 4 thousand 81 crore and from Govindghat to Hemkund Sahib at a cost of more than Rs 27 hundred 30 crore. He said that after the completion of these two ropeway projects, pilgrims will have ease of movement and religious tourism will also get a boost in the state. The Chief Minister said that Chardham Yatra is a major basis of Uttarakhand’s economy. From hoteliers to taxi drivers, local shopkeepers as well as lakhs of people associated with the Yatra get employment opportunities. After the closure of the doors of the four Dhams of Uttarakhand in winter, the economy of all these people was affected. In view of which, after getting guidance from the Prime Minister, winter travel has been started in the state from this year. He said that the arrival of the Prime Minister will not only promote winter travel on a large scale but will also promote trekking and mountain biking as well as other adventurous activities in the border area. Also, two big religious events are proposed in the state. These include Nanda Rajjat Yatra and Kumbh. We are confident that both these events will be conducted successfully under the leadership of PM.
Union Minister of State Mr Ajay Tamta, Cabinet Minister Mr Satpal Maharaj, State President of BJP and Rajya Sabha MP Mr Mahendra Bhatt, MP Mrs Mala Rajyalakshmi Shah, MLA Mr Suresh Chauhan were present on the occasion.
