‘State to reopen for tourists soon’

BOMDILA, 18 Sep: Chief Minister Pema Khandu has assured the Arunachal Himalayan Tourism Development Society (AHTDS) that the state will reopen for tourists soon.

Responding to a three-point memorandum submitted by AHTDS here on Friday, Khandu said that the tourism sector has suffered a lot due to the pandemic and affected the livelihood of thousands of people.

“I am fully aware of the issues faced by the tourism sector and the hospitality industry in the state due to Covid-19 pandemic,” he said and assured to reopen the sector shortly, “if everything goes well,” the AHTDS said in a release.

The chief minister also assured to ameliorate the hardships faced by the tourism sector and hospitality industry.

A week ago, the AHTDS had also submitted a similar memorandum to the state’s chief secretary, the society informed.

It also apprised the chief minister about the grievances faced by the hoteliers, who have been served with a notice by the Arunachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board to pay huge environmental compensation.

AHTDS president Tsering Wange said that “asking the hotel owners, who have been incurring huge losses since the last 19 months to pay up or face closure of their units, is like rubbing salt in the wounds.”