Rs 2,000 A Day To Rs 200, Rain Hits Livelihoods Hard In Himachal

The devastation wrought by the incessant rain in Himachal Pradesh cannot be measured in terms of the number of deaths alone. While the chief minister has said the damage is to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore, this huge number is made up of the individual losses being suffered by everyone from taxi drivers and apple growers to hotel owners. 

Tourism and the apple trade, which account for nearly 15% of the state's GDP, are among the sectors worst affected by the rain, which has claimed at least 71 lives. 

The usually bustling streets of Shimla are now nearly deserted and taxi drivers spend almost the whole day looking for fares. "In this season, I usually earn up to Rs 2,000 a day. The figure is now down to Rs 200," said Naresh Verma, president, Jai Maa Durga Taxi Union, Chhota Shimla.

Abhay and Geetika Dogra have been running a hotel and a cafe in Shimla for 20 years, but the heavy rainfall - which took place in July as well - is eating into their earnings. Occupancy at their hotel, Firhill, is down from the usual 50-60% to just 5% and their cafe has been damaged after a tree fell on it. 

"Earlier, the monthly earnings used to be around Rs 4 lakh, now they are not even in the thousands," said Abhay. 

Geetika, who runs Cafe 103, said the structure has developed cracks after the tree fell, and business has come to a standstill. 

The apple business has been badly hit too. The unseasonal rain in March-April damaged apple flowers and the portion of the crop that survived is difficult to transport because of the blocked and broken roads. 

"75% of our crop was destroyed. Since many of the roads are closed, we are having problems sending the apples that are ready," said Sanjay Chauhan, co-convenor, Himachal Pradesh Samyukta Kisan Manch. 

Naresh Chauhan, chief media advisor to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, said, "Tourism's contribution to GDP is about 7%, and the apple trade's contribution is similar. Both are badly affected."