The lush green landscape of Pahalgam is broken by a slab of black granite that lists the victims of last year’s terror attack. April 22, 2025, has changed Pahalgam itself, say residents, who are still grappling with the aftereffects.One obvious change is the massive drop in visitors to Pahalgam, which used to be a popular tourist destination in south Kashmir. April would be the peak season, with the meadows clear of the winter’s snow and the sound of the Lidder river gushing in the background, and Baisaran — the meadow where 25 tourists and a local man were gunned down by Pakistan-based terrorists last year — would have been the main point of attraction.There are also less conspicuous markers of change — the shattered dream of a ponywala to send his son to college and the struggles of a shopowner trying to pay his next EMI.Abdul Waheed Wani was one of the first on the scene following the attack in Baisaran. On his phone, there are urgent texts and voice notes that he sent to his fellow ponywalas that day: “Jo bhi Pahalgam mein hai wo jaldi se jaldi Baisaran pohnche. Yahan kaafi log zakhmi hain (Whoever is in Pahalgam, please reach Baisaran as quickly as possible. Many people here are injured).” Adil’s father, HaiderA clearing in the midst of the dense pine forests of Pahalgam, Baisaran, which was fenced a few years ago and developed into a park, is a six-kilometre trek from the Pahalgam main market. With no proper road leading to it, the journey is undertaken on foot or on ponies.The ponywalas are a key network, helping tourists navigate the valleys and ranges around Pahalgam, including the Aru Valley, Chandanwari and Betab Valley — major tourist attractions in the area. Of these, Chandanwari is still shut.In the past year, Waheed says, the closure of locations has contributed to the feeling of fear among those visiting Pahalgam. “If a destination is shut down, a common person assumes that the trouble due to which it was shut down persists,” he says.Story continues below this ad The newly constructed house of Adil family. They will move in on April 22, 2026His words are echoed by several locals in Pahalgam, who emphasise that the more Baisaran is kept shut to visitors, the more people will be afraid of coming to Pahalgam itself.“They are going to Gulmarg and Sonamarg, but now there’s a permanent sense of fear attached to Pahalgam, and I feel like no one is doing enough to dissipate that,” says Rayees Ahmad, another polnywala.Baisaran’s continued closure has led to a significant loss of income for the ponywalas. With each trip to the meadow, each ponywala would earn around Rs 2,400, and most of them would make multiple trips, making up to Rs 8,000 a day. This income, made in the peak season in April and May, would tide them through most of the remaining months. This is the lifeline that has been cut off by last year’s attack.The entire tourism-allied industry in the region has suffered since then. According to hoteliers in Pahalgam, of the 2,000 hotel rooms in and around the town, only about 10% are occupied — and this is in the midst of Kashmir’s main tourist season.Story continues below this adOn the weekend following the attack, Pahalgam’s daily footfall of approximately 15,000 dropped to 100. “I thought I might be able to send my son to college, now I feel like he will also do what I do and just trek these mountains all his life,” Waheed says.With the Amarnath Yatra approaching, the ponywalas will turn to work along the yatra route. “They are now providing RFIDs (radio-frequency identification) for everyone plying that route, and one person is allowed only one pony. Earlier, they could operate two,” says Rayees Ahmad, adding that the security measures now dictate that everyone needs a police verification.Scores of ponywalas, tourist guides and locals have been questioned by the National Investigation Agency over the course of the past year as the agency probed the attack. “We have all cooperated with the NIA and police in their investigation. It is in our interest that Pahalgam is made safe again,” Waheed says.Among the few tourists strolling along the main market area in Pahalgam was a family from Kerala. They say, “Coming here makes the tragedy that we heard about a lot more real. But it would be terribly sad to miss such a beautiful place.”The ponywala heroStory continues below this adFor 65-year-old Syed Haider Shah, who worked as a ponywala when he was younger, the attack was a bigger personal tragedy than for most others in the town. His son, 29-year-old Adil, was the only local killed by the gunmen. Adil was working as a ponywala and was trying to help tourists when he was shot.Haider Shah smiles as he remembers his son, “He had so much courage. He was always taking care of us.”Adil did not have his own pony, but rented one from Pahalgam market to ferry tourists to Baisaran and back for roughly Rs 300 a day. After the attack on April 22 last year, the family could not find Adil until almost 10 pm. His brother, Naushad, found his body at a Srinagar hospital after looking for him all day. “He had been shot four times. He died saving people who gave him a livelihood. Us baat ki bohot tasalli hai (That is a great comfort),” Haider Shah says.He says he and his wife have tried going to the spot. “I want to take his mother to see where Adil was killed. She has been asking for a year, but it remains closed. We tried going three times.”Story continues below this adHaider Shah’s other sons, Naushad and Nazakat, now help to run the household. Adil’s wife has also been offered a job by the state government. The family still lives in the modest house they had before Adil was killed, but a new single-story structure stands ready next to it in the same plot of land. Along with the immense outpouring of empathy for the family, the compensation received from the J&K government, as well as the Maharashtra government, has helped the family construct the more permanent structure. “We will move in on the 22nd,” Shah says.