Kashmir economy suffers Rs.60,000 crore loss due to 4000 shutdowns since 1989

Jammu, July 24 (ANI): A recent survey undertaken by media agencies has revealed that the economy of the Kashmir Valley has suffered a loss of Rupees 60,000 crore as a result of the 4000 shutdowns that have taken place during the last two decades.

The survey further reveals that some mysterious hands are working to bring the northern state's tourism industry to a grinding halt. Each individual Kashmiri has suffered an average loss of Rs.20 lakh.

Traders associated with the tourist trade, the hotel industry, the houseboat industry, the handicraft industry and the carpet industry have claimed that the 120 shutdowns that take place annually, has affected their livelihood drastically, so much so that a majority of them have come below the poverty line.

According to the survey, the tourism trade in other states have prospered in the same period and are now running their own helicopter services, and chains of five-star and three-star hotels.

The media survey reveals that in 1989, some these families were economically very poor, but two decades later, they have accumulated riches beyond their wildest imagination. They have become owners of huge tracts of land in their respective areas of operation.

The survey also reveals that the shutdown has led to each school-going Kashmiri child losing 20,000 precious class periods.

The damage caused by the shutdowns is monumental, affecting the social, education, cultural, commercial, intellectual, philosophical, regional, scientific, sports and other sectors By Tahir Nadeem Khan (ANI)