Neelum Valley:
The hotels are empty, and roads are abandoned at the start of what is usually the highest tourist season in the middle of the ruting peaks and lush valleys in Ajk’s valley as the threat of attacks from India clings.
The high season in the cooler climates of the Neelum Valley, the AJK tourist center, begins in May as temperatures around the rest of the country rise.
“It’s been a really bad start,”
said Muhammad Awais, a 22-year-old photographer at a popular picnic space.
Tourism is Neelum Valley’s Lifeline and draws over 300,000 visitors each year from all over Pakistan, according to District Administration.
Much of the local population depends on about 350 guest houses employing thousands of families.
“Our livelihood depends on tourism, and without it we suffer,” Awais told AFP. “The way things unfold is very slow and it affects our work poorly.”
This week, police and soldiers on the army control points prevented tourists from entering the valley, which only allows local residents through the checkpoint. Tourists were instead told to return Muzaffarabad.
“It is extremely disappointing that the government did not warn us or advised against visiting,” said Saleem Udin Siddique, who traveled from the capital Islamabad with its family.
“Our hope is now dotted,” said the 69-year-old retired accountant.
However, some tourists continued to arrive effortlessly. “We don’t think the threat of possible war is serious,” said Mudasar Maqsood, a 39-year-old Kasur factory worker who was blocked with his friends from entering the valley.
“We should not interfere with our routine life,” he added.
Raja Iftikhar Khan, the President of the Private Tourism Association, said the situation could be “extremely serious”.
“This disturbance has been devastating to all those bound to tourism,” he said, “we don’t want war – no sensible business people ever do.”
