By IANS
Shimla : Tourist arrivals into Himachal Pradesh has been severely affected by the religious clashes in neighbouring Punjab last week and the shutdown called Tuesday by the Akal Takht – the highest temporal authority of Sikhism.
In view of the strike in Punjab, the Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC) decided not to ply any buses on the over 300 routes between the hill state and Punjab.
The shutdown was called to protest the actions of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmit Ram Rahim that hurt the religious sentiments of the Sikh community.
The sect leader had last week attired himself like the 10th Sikh guru Gobind Singh, offending the sensibilities of Sikhs and resulting in large-scale violence in Punjab.
Tourist arrivals by other means of transport from different parts of the country have also come down in the otherwise peak tourist season due to security concerns ever since the controversy erupted last week.
"The overall tourist arrivals have come down by at least 10 per cent in the past week due to the Dera clashes. And it may drop further if the issue is not resolved soon," said Rajiv Madan, general secretary of the Shimla hotel and restaurant association.
Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC), which has hotels and restaurants across the state, also expressed similar fears.