For the picturesque Himachal Pradesh, news of shifting the much-anticipated ICC World Twenty20 (WT20) clash between India and Pakistan from the Himalayan hill town of Dharamsala to Kolkata has come as a major jolt to fans as well as the tourism industry of the region.
Dharamsala, a popular destination among the Indian as well as foreign tourists, is located in the backdrop of the high snow clad Dhauladhar ranges and is one of the primary township of Kangra district and is also the abode of Dalai Lama.
Similar to most of the other hill stations, their economy too is heavily dependent on tourism, and the state was expecting a colossal jump in the inflow of tourists around the WT20 game between India and Pakistan on March 19, but politics took its toll, leaving everybody dismayed.
Dharamsala is scheduled to host eight matches during the WT20, but none matches the might of blockbuster between India and Pakistan, which will now be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
A standoff between the state government and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over providing security to the visiting Pakistan team has resulted in the International Cricket Council (ICC) moving the match out of Dharamsala.
This has left the locals and Dharamsala’s tourism industry in a state of shock and disbelief.
The worst affected are the hotel owners who had invested huge money in renovating their properties for the mega event and now as the match stands cancelled, they have to refund the money to their customers. And many feel the losses will run into crore.
“Dharamsala hosting the World Cup was a great news for the city’s tourism industry. We were expecting good business. Keeping in mind the event this year, we had invested so much in renovating the rooms which we would have usually done next year,” Rajiv Singh, manager of the Asia Health Resorts & Spa, told Cricketnext.
Hotels in and around Dharamsala were booked to capacity, with no rooms available for late-comers.
“We now have to bear heavy losses as people will cancel their bookings,” Singh added. “We will definitely take a hit as the India-Pakistan match was expected to attract thousands of people. This is a shame for the state of Himachal Pradesh and its government that couldn’t provide security. Huge loss for Dharamsala tourism.”
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) raised its concern after the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Virbhadra Singh, said providing adequate security to the Pakistan team could be a problem since families of the war heroes and martyrs living in the region raised objection to the match since it will hurt their feelings.
However, the hoteliers believe that the whole issue has got nothing to do with the security aspect and was rather politically motivated.
Vipul Chakravorty, resort manager of the Club Mahindra, said Dharamsala’s image has taken a blow.
“We mostly made reservations for the delegates of the ICC and BCCI. Most of our rooms are booked for them. So we don’t have to incur such heavy losses as there is a match on March 18 as well. But this is definitely not good for the tourism and it will have negative implications on the overall picture of Himachal Pradesh,” he said.
“We feel there was never a security threat of the magnitude (as projected). It was all politically motivated and some socially prominent people also got together to fuel it,” he added.
The hosting of the match in Dharamsala was always under the cloud. Several protests by ex-servicemen and war veterans in the wake of the terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase, kept both BCCI and ICC on tenterhooks, and in the end, the apex body was left with no option than to shift the match to Kolkata.
“It’s a total failure on part of the state government. Australia and New Zealand are coming here and they don’t have any threat. Then how come there was threat to Pakistan? It was all a political issue for which we will have to bear the brunt,” opined Rajesh Pawar, who oversees reservations of The Exotica Dharamsala.
“We don’t have any other option but to refund to our customers. People now might think before coming to Dharamsala in future [to watch cricket]. We earn from our tourists and it’s a sad day.”
ICC’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dave Richardson, said in the prevailing circumstances, it was difficult to go ahead with Dharamsala as the venue for the match.
“The concerns initially arose following alleged public comments recently reported by the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, warning of demonstration and attempts to disrupt the peaceful conduct of the match. Our concerns relate both to uncertainty as to the level of those threats as well as the level of commitment to implement any security plan developed to mitigate such treats,” said Richardson while announcing the decision at a press conference in Delhi on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Richardson assured the ticket-holders that their money will not go waste and they should not worry. “The people who have bought tickets will be refunded or they can exchange them with the tickets for the Kolkata match.”
But not many, who reside in close-by regions of Himachal Pradesh and the adjoining state of Punjab, can spend the amount of money required to travel to West Bengal for the match. They will certainly feel hard done by for no fault of theirs.
“I don’t know how will the fans react,” said BCCI secretary, Anurag Thakur. “Himachal government has embarrassed the country…Thousands of people who have already planned this well in advance, I don’t know how they will react when the state falls short of providing security and creating a good atmosphere.”
The other seven matches at Dharamasala are on as per schedule, but that won’t make up for the big hit the region has taken, both as a cricket centre as well as financially.
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