Over 500 foreign tourists came out in support of the striking boatmen of Varanasi who were protesting against the imposition of extra tax by forest authorities for boating on river Ganga on Monday. Discontented by their inability to view sunrise from boat due to the ongoing strike, tourists from US, Israel, Korea, Japan, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Germany said they have heard about a separate tax for sailing along the riverbank.The forest department had recently decided to impose entry tax, aiming towards preservation of the seven-km long (Raj Ghat to Ramnagar) tortoise sanctuary. Besides making annual registration of all boats compulsory, the department also fixed a daily entry tax of Rs 100 for motorboats and Rs 50 for hand-rowed boats. “The strike by boatmen must be supported, as the forest authorities’ decision is bound to affect the tourists directly,” said Mario Kallari, an Italian tourist. An angry Japanese tourist, Nakamura, promised never to return to Varanasi and said, “If the tax is not rolled back no tourist will ever come to Varanasi, as watching the sunrise on a boat is the USP of the temple city.”The protest at the famous Rajendra Prasad Ghat of the holy city was organised by the Government Approved Tourist Guides Association (GATGA) whose president Ajay Singh threatened that 103 members of his association would go on a day-long strike on Wednesday if the tax was not rolled back.“The decision to introduce entry tax on boats and tourists has destroyed tourism business here. The tourism industry, including hotels, tour operators, guides and boatmen have lost nearly Rs 4.5 crore during the strike, which completed its sixth day on Monday. Everyday, the tourism sector is losing more than Rs 75 lakh, including the 2,000 boatmen who are losing Rs 5 lakh daily,” Singh said.Amid the growing resentment from the tourism industry over the imposition of new taxes, the Divisional Forest Officer of Kashi, Alok Srivastava, said, “We are not in a hurry to impose the tax and keeping in mind the growing public unrest the entire tax paper is now under the reconsideration of State Forest Department in Lucknow.” Meanwhile, the boatmen carried out a protest march from Raj Ghat to Assi Ghat on Monday which was led by Congress MP Rajesh Mishra and Youth Congress leader Dayalu Mishra.
