DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand, renowned globally for its spiritual and domestic tourism, is facing an unprecedented challenge with its floating population surging eight-fold annually. The state government will approach the Center via NITI Aayog for help in coping with the massive tourist influx, which strains infrastructure and resources disproportionately.Finance Minister Premchand Agarwal had requested Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to address the state’s key issues, including the challenges posed by the floating population, but the budget made no mention of it. The omission has left the state government dismayed, as it had hoped for support to cope with the infrastructural strain caused by the large influx of tourists and pilgrims.Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, in a media interaction, appealed to the NITI Aayog for central assistance to manage the state’s massive tourist population. He stated, “We request the c to provide us with central aid to cater to the millions of people who visit us every year.”Highlighting the scale of the challenge, Dhami said, “Our state’s population is multiplied eight times due to the arrival of people from across the country for Char Dham Yatra, Kanwar Yatra, and other religious pilgrimages, putting a massive strain on our resources.”According to sources, the Uttarakhand government had requested the Center to include compensation for damages caused by devastating forest fires and high-voltage transmission line losses in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) norms. However, the latest budget has made no mention of this demand.In a conversation with , social activist Anoop Nautiyal expressed disappointment, stating, “The budget barely mentions or neglects the severe environmental and climate challenges in its nine key priorities. While there are assurances for Uttarakhand, Himachal, and Sikkim, there is nothing significant for the Indian Himalayan region in the budget.” Anoop expressed dismay, stating, “Uttarakhand has been overlooked with no allocation for green bonus or floating population. Rudraprayag and Tehri districts, are among the 147 most landslide-prone districts in the country, we had hoped for some relief. We expected the budget to announce the establishment of glacier or landslide research centers in Uttarakhand, but that hasn’t happened.”Uttarakhand Congress chief spokesperson Garima Dasoni said, “The NDA government’s budget this time has been the most disappointing, especially considering that Uttarakhand is severely affected by forest fires and disasters. Despite this, the Centre has chosen to ignore the state’s needs and failed to make provisions in the central budget for this purpose.”
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