DEHRADUN: Elections in Uttarakhand, coinciding with the peak
wedding season
, have resulted in a surge in demand for buses and cabs across the state. Families who had made preparations for weddings say they are struggling for vehicles for their baraats (wedding processions) since a large number of taxis and buses have been diverted for election duty.
According to information made available by the transport department, a total of 12,395 vehicles, including 3,653 buses and 7,161 private taxis and cabs, have been acquired by state authorities for election duty.
This has led to vehicle bookings for weddings being cancelled abruptly. All five
Lok Sabha
constituencies in the state will go to the hustings in the first of the seven-phase polls on April 19.
This year, peak wedding season has also arrived around this time with April 18, just a day before the polls, being considered the most auspicious day of the season to get married. Priests say that the wedding season gains momentum after Baisakhi on April 13, and extends until April 24.
"We have a wedding in the family on April 18 and the vehicles we had booked more than a month back are no longer available. We have had to make alternate arrangements at short notice. None of the taxi services we know have any available vehicles for those dates. We are in a dilemma what to do," Janardhan Singh, a Dehradun resident, said.
N P Singh, who runs Sanjeevni Travels, a prominent city-based cab operator, said, "Vehicles from almost all transport agencies have been engaged for polls. Between April 17 and 20, buses and cabs will be engaged at booths and transporting security forces among other election-related works. This has come about even as the wedding season demand for vehicles is also high, and customers are facing issues due to unavailability of vehicles on these dates."
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The problem is particularly acute in the hills where people are largely dependent on public vehicles for commuting. Ganesh Rawat, a resident of Uttarkashi, said that a baraat from his family was supposed to travel to Tehri, but the vehicle booking was cancelled. "Now we have had to rent five cars instead of one bus," he said.
There is another piquant problem faced by those organising weddings. The 48-hour period before the scheduled end of polling is a 'dry phase' - when liquor shops will be closed and temporary bar licences required for serving liquor at events, will not be issued. As a result, wedding venues are also grappling with challenges arising from this situation. "We have experienced cancellations as authorities are not permitting licences for alcohol. Several cocktail events that were scheduled are no longer happening. The wedding season ends this month and there are no auspicious dates until October. This is the last leg we have for good business," said Sameer Sikand, one of the owners of Nine Palms Resort, a party venue in Dehradun.
Meanwhile, state transport authorities said they will address the concerns of those who are facing difficulties in arranging vehicles for their events. "If there is any genuine case where a vehicle engaged in
poll duty
is needed for private purposes, we will consider the request and address it," regional transport officer, Dehradun, Sunil Sharma, said.
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