Srinagar: The president of Kashmir's Chamber of Commerce and Industry is warning that the region's already frail economy could collapse under lockdown measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Kashmir relies heavily on tourism, which has totally stopped since the lockdown was imposed on March 24. Houseboats - another hugely popular tourist attraction - remain docked at an empty Dal Lake. Most of the boatmen are passing their time by fishing.
Kashmir's frail economy pushed to brink during COVID-19 lockdown In a report published in December last year (2019), the chamber blamed the communication and internet shutdowns and heavy military presence as some of the main reasons for choking the Kashmiri economy.
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"It has actually added more worries, more difficulties. There is no tourism. There is no export. We have lost. I cannot give you the exact number of jobless people who are getting, you know, jobless. I feel even the employer is jobless, the whole population is just sitting. We are again and again saying that our situation is completely different from our brothers and colleagues in the rest of India," said Sheikh Ashiq, president of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
"I have conveyed it at every level that we are facing big issues and problems because there is not any lockdown since this outbreak of pandemic, we are facing lockdowns since decades," he said.
India has reported nearly 30,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and nearly 900 deaths. The lockdown is expected to be lifted on May 3 in some parts of the country, with restrictions continuing in high-incidence regions.
(With inputs from AP)
