The annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi on Trikuta Hills is likely to touch a new high of 72. 28 lakhs in 2009 and 86 lakhs in 2015 against 69.05 lakhs presently.
Katra, Aug.18 : The annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi on Trikuta Hills is likely to touch a new high of 72. 28 lakhs in 2009 and 86 lakhs in 2015 against 69.05 lakhs presently.
The pilgrimage has emerged as a big economic boon for Katra, the base camp of the pilgrimage, generating an income of Rs 474.36 crores per annum with employment to about 27000 persons. The sum excludes the amount received by SMVDSB as offernings or donations as also the amount spent in Jammu, Patnitop or Kashmir.
This has been projected in a study conducted by Dr. S.K. Jain, Principal Investigator, Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. The draft report, compiled over three years, was submitted to Governor, Lt. General (Retd) S K Sinha during a meeting of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board here today.
The three-year study was carried out to analyze the impact of pilgrimage to the Holy Shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji on the economy of Jammu and Kashmir with special reference to Katra.
The Governor, who is also the Chairman of SMVDSB, appreciated the effort saying that it will be a useful document for working out strategies by all those concerned with the Yatra to make necessary amends and improvements in the infrastructure development to cater to the growing number of pilgrims.
Chief Executive Officer, SMVDSB, Dr Arun Kumar and Additional CEO Mr Puneet Kumar were among those present in the meeting.
Of Rs 474.36 crores being injected into Katra economy, commercial establishments account for Rs 283. 66 crores followed by hospitality sector comprising hotels and lodgings Rs 72. 15 crores, transport, Rs 69.23 crores, Ponywallas; Rs 33.15 crores and Pithoos; Rs 16.15 crores. The commercial establishments provide jobs to 7781 persons followed by 4950 by hospitality sector and 1500 by transport sector. The Pithoos number 8000 and Ponywallas constitute 4747 persons.
As per the study, the pilgrims prefer to throng the holy shrine in groups. Over 60 per cent pilgrims come in groups of two to five. The average duration of stay of 46.4 percent pilgrims is 1 to 2 days, whereas 36.4 percent stay up to four days i.e. about 82.8 percent pilgrims stay for 1-4 days.
More than 50 percent pilgrims stay in hotels. About 65 percent of the total pilgrims prefer to visit the Shrine from March to June. Over 75 percent prefer to visit the Shrine during winter/summer vacations. About 40 percent and 30 percent pilgrims visit Jammu and Patnitop, respectively, while visiting the Holy Shrine. Sixty-five percent of the pilgrims stay for about obe to two days whereas about 27 percent pilgrims stay for the extended period of three to four days.
As for the mode of transportation for embarking on the pilgrimage is concerned, the study reveals that about 42 percent pilgrims travel by train, 34 percent by bus and about 15 percent pilgrims by their own vehicles. Similarly, eight percent pilgrims travel on pony, three percent use pithoos, 2.7 percent use pithus and just one percent% pilgrims use Palki while going up and coming down. Over 57 percent pilgrims spent Rs. 200-500 on pithus/palkis per head.
ANI