Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Apr 22: Following footsteps of her father, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti would not only be pressing for opening of Suchetgarh cross-border point in RS Pura sector but also famous Chamblayal point in Ramgarh sector of Samba district as she undertakes visit to both the border points tomorrow.
“Apart from pressing of opening of cross-border routes, she would also be reviewing promotion of border tourism at both the places, which were long pending demands of not only the local people but the people of Jammu,’’ official sources told the Excelsior.
Only few days before falling ill in December, Mufti Sayeed, then Chief Minister had visited Suchetgarh sector and proposed promotion of border tourism and opening of Suchetgarh-Sialkot route.
Sources said Mehbooba Mufti would be taking a step ahead and proposing not only the promotion of border tourism at Suchetgarh-Sialkot but also Chamblayal route in Ramgarh sector of Samba district, which housed famous and widely revered religious shrine of Baba Chamblayal ji, which is respected by the people from both sides of India and Pakistan.
The Chamblayal fair, which is organized on third Thursday of every July, is also attended by the Pakistani Rangers, who offer `chadar’ on behalf of Pakistani people and take `prasad’ for them. Prior to 1971 war, the Pakistani people were allowed to visit the shrine on the day of fair but the practice was stopped after the war.
Sources said after assessing the ground situation, the Chief Minister could take up the opening of these two more border points with the Centre to promote people-to-people links and give boost to Indo-Pak trade like Wagah in Amritsar district of Punjab.
“The Tourism Department, whose charge is also held by the Chief Minister, could take steps for promotion of border tourism at both the places including Suchetgarh and Chamblayal,’’ sources said pointing out that Chamblayal is addition to Suchetgarh border point of RS Pura sector, whose promotion was on cards during the tenure of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Noting that both Suchetgarh and Chamblayal have extreme potential to attract tourists in Jammu, sources said it was the absence of requisite facilities and certain security guidelines that both local as well as people from the other States were unable to visit the two points. They added that once the facilities were generated at the two points, they could become centre of attraction.
Mehbooba would also undertake tour of several tourism and heritage areas of Jammu tomorrow including Mubarak Mandi, Rajinder Park and various other destinations of Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts, which the Government proposed to develop as new tourist destinations.
Meanwhile, it has been reliable learnt that with the deferment of Anantnag Assembly by-election by the Election Commission yesterday, the State Government has also formally decided to defer Municipal and Panchayat elections for the time being.
Same security reasons, which were cited for deferring the Anantnag by-elections, have been considered for deferment of the Municipal and Panchayat polls.
The Municipal elections had been proposed in May while Panchayat elections were due in June as five years term of present Panchayats was due to be over on July 16 and new Panchayats had to be in place well before that.
Panchayat elections were last held in April-May 2011 during NC-Congress regime after a gap of 37 years. Similarly, the Municipal elections were last held in the State in January-February 2005 after a gap of 26 years. The Municipalities had ceased to exist in March 2010 and since then process for holding elections to them was initiated several times but every time it had to be given up for varied reasons.
There are a total of 78 Municipalities in Jammu and Kashmir including two Corporations (Jammu and Srinagar), six Councils (Kathua, Udhampur and Poonch in Jammu region and Anantnag, Sopore and Baramulla in Kashmir region). Rest 70 were the Municipal Committees.
Elections to the ULBs were last held in January-February 2005 and elected bodies had completed their five years term in March 2010. Since then, first the NC-Congress coalition Government and then PDP-BJP coalition Government made no efforts to hold elections to them.
It was during the Governor’s rule that process to hold the elections was speedily set into motion and all arrangements were finalized to hold them in first or second week of May. However, before the Governor could execute the task, his rule ended as the PDP-BJP Government was revived.
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