* Inaugurates Advanced GIS portal for urban planning
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 22: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo today chaired a meeting to review the works and initiatives undertaken by the Tourism Department for promoting and strengthening tourism across the Jammu region. The review focused on evaluating progress, enhancing infrastructure, and formulating strategies to position Jammu as a vibrant, year-round tourism destination.
The meeting was attended by ACS Tourism; ACS, PWD; Divisional Commissioner, Jammu; CEO, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board; Deputy Commissioners of Jammu, Reasi and Udhampur; Managing Director, JKTDC; Director Tourism Jammu, and other senior officers of the department.
Emphasising the immense tourism potential of the region, the Chief Secretary directed the department to intensify promotion and publicity of existing and emerging tourism circuits while ensuring timely completion of all ongoing works. He underscored the need for a comprehensive strategy to convert the massive influx of pilgrims into multi-day tourists by encouraging them to explore leisure, heritage, adventure and spiritual experiences beyond traditional pilgrimage routes.
He stressed on proactive use of digital platforms and social media, including collaboration with influencers, to expand outreach and attract national as well as international tourists. He noted that the initiation of adventure activities such as rafting, paragliding, bungee jumping and water sports would transform Jammu into a round-the-yeartourism hub while simultaneously creating significant employment opportunities for local youth.
The Chief Secretary reviewed the progress of key pilgrimage circuits including Katra-Shivkhori and Uttarbehni-Purmandal, alongside adventure circuits covering Aithem Jammu, Chenab Rail Bridge, Baradari (Reasi) and RanjitSagar Lake (Kathua). He also took stock of promotional initiatives in Patnitop-Sanasar, Surinsar-Mansar, Rajouri-Poonch and the leisure circuits of Bani-Bhadarwah, Sinthan and Wadwan.
During the meeting, ACS Tourism Ashish Chander Verma presented a comprehensive overview of departmental initiatives, highlighting a multifaceted approach focused on thematic circuits, heritage experiences, adventure tourism, infrastructure augmentation and promotion of offbeat destinations.
Director Tourism Jammu, Dr Vikas Gupta, detailed the works executed and promotional efforts undertaken across various circuits. He elaborated on the Katra-Shivkhori circuit, integrating major religious centres including Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Shivkhori and historic sites such as Krimchi Temples, Raghunath Temple and Ranbireshwar Temple.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo chaired a high-level meeting of all concerned Administrative Heads to review the status of data layers uploaded on the PM Gati Shakti (PMGS) Portal across Jammu & Kashmir and to assess progress in leveraging the platform as a comprehensive decision-support system for holistic and evidence-based governance.
During the meeting, the Chief Secretary underscored the critical importance of developing innovative and user-oriented analytical tools on the PMGS portal to derive clear insights from the available datasets. He emphasized that accurate, granular and dynamic data is vital for informed policy formulation and efficient service delivery aimed at enhancing public welfare.
He took this occasion to urge all departments to move beyond conventional data uploading and focus on meaningful analytical integration to strengthen planning and monitoring mechanisms. He called for accelerating the creation of polygonal data instead of mapping point data only.
The Chief Secretary directed the Planning, Development & Monitoring Department to take the lead in uploading detailed data layers concerning youth engagement across all districts of the UT. He called for comprehensive datasets covering skilling initiatives, employment trends, entrepreneurial activities, sports participation and educational indicators of youth to facilitate the formulation of targeted and impactful youth-centric policies.
Later, the Chief Secretary formally inaugurated the Advanced GIS Portal and GIS-Based Asset Mapping Mobile Application developed for the Housing and Urban Development Department (H&UDD), marking a significant milestone in the modernization of urban infrastructure planning and management in Jammu & Kashmir.
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