Himachal tourism industry suffers setback as Howrah, Kalka train not running

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], October 18 : The number of tourists from West Bengal to Himachal Pradesh has declined as trains from Howrah to Kalka are not running and so tourism and related industries have been hit.
According to the tourism industry and stakeholders' association release, "Tourists from West Bengal and Gujarat make a big contribution during Durga Puja Holidays. This time, trains from Howrah to Kalka are not running which has directly impacted the hotels and other tourism-related units. Occupancy of hotels used to be from 70% to 80% during this year, but this year it has reduced from 15% to 20%."
Since many tourists from Gujarat and Maharashtra are not coming to Himachal Pradesh, the tourism industry and stakeholders association has urged the government to increase the seating capacity of the buses.
"If the buses are allowed to run with 100 per cent seating capacity on the lines of Uttarakhand, then it may be viable to bring the groups to Himachal Pradesh. Our request from the government is that the seating capacity of the buses should be increased to 100 per cent so that groups coming from Gujarat could come to Himachal Pradesh which will benefit the tourism industry," it said.
The association requested the government that all tourism units should be provided with an unconditional working capital loan through the state cooperative banks, exemption in property tax by March and fixed demand charges incurred on electricity bills should be waived.