Dal Lake and Lal Chowk mourn in silence: Kashmir’s heart awaits tourists after the Pahalgam massacre

Pahalgam turns into a ghost town one month after the Baisaran terror

A month after a brutal terror attack snuffed out 26 innocent lives in the Baisaran valley, Pahalgam has become a ghost town, its soul shattered by fear.

The gurgling Lidder River, which once carried the laughter of tourists on its ripples, flows quietly, as if mourning the absence of those who once marveled at its beauty.

At every bend and corner, you can spot security personnel standing like somber sentinels, but there is no one left to protect.

The memory of that horrific day, when tourists were gunned down in cold blood, clings to Pahalgam like a heavy fog. Visitors fled in terror, leaving behind a void that has silenced the valley’s heartbeat.

The capital city of Srinagar has also been mourning in silence since then.

The Boulevard Road along Dal Lake, where tourists strolled under the shade of ancient chinar trees, now lies cloaked in an aching stillness. A month after the horrific Pahalgam massacre, this iconic stretch of Srinagar weeps in solitude.

Nearby, Lal Chowk, the heart of Srinagar’s cultural and commercial life, stands equally forlorn, its bustling markets reduced to a whisper of their former glory. Kashmir’s soul, scarred by violence, waits in vain for the footsteps of tourists to return.

Along Boulevard Road, the shikaras bob listlessly, their vibrant canopies faded by neglect, as boatmen like Ghulam Nabi sit with heads bowed, their livelihoods adrift.

“This lake was our pride, our life,” he says, his voice cracking with grief. “Now it’s as empty as my heart.” The houseboats, once abuzz with honeymooners and travelers marveling at the Himalayan backdrop, stand like silent relics, their carved wooden facades gazing at an empty horizon.

The snow-draped slopes of Gulmarg, the golden meadows of Sonamarg, and the pastoral trails of Tangmarg—Kashmir’s cherished gems—stand abandoned, their beauty untouched, their spirit broken.

“The valley is crying,” whispers Rafiq Lone, a shikara operator, his eyes glistening as he gazes at the empty lake. “It’s as if our home has lost its family.”

The pain runs deep for local businessmen, whose dreams are crumbling alongside their livelihoods.

In Pahalgam, shopkeepers like Bilal Ahmad sit amid stacks of unsold shawls, their intricate patterns gathering dust. “We’ve slashed prices to nothing, but no one comes,” he says, his voice breaking. “This was our paradise, our pride. Now it’s just loss.”

Srinagar’s airport, once alive with 16,000 to 18,000 passengers daily, now welcomes fewer than 6,000, each empty seat a reminder of the fear that keeps tourists away.

Despite desperate airfare cuts, the skies above Kashmir remain heavy with absence, the valley’s call unanswered.

Jammu, too, reels under the same sorrow, with the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine and Patnitop’s misty hills bereft of pilgrims and wanderers. Local transporters, from taxi drivers to ponywallahs, face ruin, their vehicles and animals idle as the tourism sector—Kashmir’s lifeblood—crumbles. However, the pilgrim traffic is gradually showing signs of improvement amid simmering tensions between India and Pakistan.

Local transporters, from weathered taxi drivers to ponywallahs, are drowning in despair, their vehicles idle, their animals untethered. “No tourists, no hope,” sobs Sanjay Kumar, a Jammu cab driver, his hands trembling on a steering wheel that hasn’t turned in weeks. “How do we survive when our valley is shunned?”

Amid this anguish, the Union Territory authorities are preparing for the Amarnath Yatra, set to begin on July 3.

To create a conducive atmosphere of peace, the Union Territory Administration has also beefed up security across the region.

The Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, while chairing a meeting of the Unified command in Srinagar on Tuesday, directed all the security agencies to conduct precise, intelligence-led operations to neutralize terrorists and dismantle support cells to ensure a safe and peaceful Amarnath pilgrimage.

Last week, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah told reporters in Srinagar that tourism has been hit quite badly, and we have had very few tourists visiting Kashmir this summer. Right now, our focus is on the Amarnath Yatra — we want it to pass incident-free, and for all the yatris to return safe and sound. After that, we will look into ways to promote tourism,” he said.

In Kashmir valley, stakeholders associated with the tourism industry organized a motor car rally from Dal Lake to Pahalgam, sending out an open invitation to tourists to return to Kashmir. “Kashmir is safe, Kashmir is ready to host you. “We are not just telling tourists to come — we are telling them that the people of Kashmir stand united for peace. The doors of our homes are open, our hearts are open”.

Kashmir waits in anguished hope, its heart yearning for the day when tourists will once again breathe life into its wounded soul.

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

For all the latest updates, download PGurus App.

The post Dal Lake and Lal Chowk mourn in silence: Kashmir’s heart awaits tourists after the Pahalgam massacre appeared first on PGurus.