The Hindu : A boon and a bane?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 29, 2002

National

National

A boon and a bane?

By Kanwar Yogendra

The Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, waves to the media before leaving for Delhi at Manali, in Himachal Pradesh, on Tuesday. — PTI

SHIMLA MAY 28. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, left for Delhi this morning after cutting short his visit to Himachal Pradesh. While boarding the army helicopter at the SASE helipad, about 6 km from his village farm house ``Prini", Mr. Vajpayee said he enjoyed his stay at Manali which he has visited in the past and would visit in future. He thanked the State Government and the people of Himachal Pradesh for their hospitality at the Kullu-Manali hills where he stayed for holidays.

Though the local people were happy that the Prime Minister's stay had brought the focus to them, they were distressed at the rigorous security check due to the VVIP movement.

Shopkeepers in the vicinity of ``Prini'' complained of massive restrictions on their activity. All types of movement of tourists, whom the locals fondly call ``guests'', were stopped and the shops hardly had any visitor for about five days. Whenever there was VVIP movement, ``we were told to pull down the shutters and it was being done repeatedly'', some complained.

The tourist season was only for two months in which they earned for the year, and it got affected every year by the PM's visit, one of them complained.

A milk vendor said he suffered a loss of Rs. 4,500 a day as he could not park his vehicle on the road to distribute milk. Several young couples on their honeymoon, mainly from Delhi, West Bengal, Gujarat and Punjab, had to spend at least 4 to 6 hours in their vehicles while on their way to Manali.

But some nearby hotels did a brisk business as they had cent per cent occupancy because SPG and security agencies had also hired hotels in the area.

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