Tourist town Munsiyari hit by LPG shortage
Tourist town Munsiyari hit by LPG shortage
B.D. Kasniyal
Pithoragarh, March 13
More than 5000 families of Munsiyari town of Pithoragarh district, dependent on tourism for their livelihood face an impending crisis the hotelier of the town have started cancelling books of tourists from across the country after district administration cancelled booking of commercial LPG cylinders from last 5 days. Munsiyari town is one of the top tourist destinations of Pithoragarh district,
However, the district administration has claimed that the LPG supply in the district is continuous and smooth “The district needs 1980 domestic and 80 commercial cylinders on daily basis and the stock is sufficient for next two days as supplies continue,” said Ashish Kumar Bhatgai, District Magistrate, Pithoragarh.
“We received maximum number of tourists in summer season beginning from March to the peak in the May month, but we are compelled to cancel bookings of tourists as we will not be able to cook delicacies due to lack of LPG, for them even if they reach here,” said Puran Pandey, president of Hotel Association of Munsiyari.
The district administration on the other hand claimed that it has sufficient stock of domestic LPG cylinders and supply is also smooth.
“After the booking of commercial cylinders was cancelled, we have decided to cook only basic meals- ‘Dal Bhat’ and ‘Roti’ for the tourists, and stopped cooking other spicy and non-vegetarian and spicey food despite the demand of the tourists,” said Puran Pandey.
“All 130 hotels, and over 30 food outlets in this tourist town have started cancelling new tourist bookings due to commercial LPG shortage,” said Pandey.
In Munsiyari, a key tourist destination of the district, over 10000 tourists reach in March- April from Delhi, W.Bengal, Maharastra, Rajasthan and other parts of country to view Panchachuli peaks every year. “This number rises up to 16000 till the month of May.” said Pandey
According to Munsiyari hoteliers over 5000 families are earning livelihood out of tourism in and around the town.”If the supply of LPG gets disrupted, the tourist industry of the town will be adversely affected in the coming tourist season ,” added Pandey.
