Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Mar 31: In a major bid to promote tourism in Jammu, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who holds charge of the Tourism Department has called upon the legislators, heads of Tourist Development Authorities (TDAs) and senior officers of the Department to come out with detailed list of unexplored areas in the region to develop them as new tourist destinations to attract the tourists.
He has also asked the TDA heads and legislators to come out with list of unexplored tourist destinations and steps to develop them to attract tourists in these areas apart from more facilities required in known tourist stations to further promote them.
These directions were passed by the Chief Minister while reviewing performances of TDAs of Jammu division here last night.
“There were several areas, which can attract tourists, but they have not been promoted and lacked facilities necessary for the tourism,’’ he reportedly said in the meeting and called upon officers of the Tourism Department, heads of TDAs and legislators to come out with detailed list of these areas and ways and means by which they can be promoted to attract the tourists.
Mufti Sayeed is reported to have proposed water sports in Ranjit Sagar dam in Kathua district and Baglihar in Ramban district and construction of huts there to facilitate tourists. He said the tourists can be attracted in a big way for water sports, which will boost local economy.
He called for speedy work on artificial lake in river Tawi and ropeway projects at Mubarak Mandi and Patnitop and development of an International Yoga Centre at Mantalai, once the Ashram of Yog Guru Dhrinder Brahamchari. He said Mantalai can also be linked to ropeway project.
According to him, there were several untapped areas in Bhaderwah and Kishtwar including Jai, Poonch and Rajouri districts and other parts of Jammu including Bani, Basohli and Billawar, which can be sold to the tourists as major sites of attraction once the facilities were generated there.
The Chief Minister proposed “mission mode” to attract tourists this season in Jammu region which has potential equivalent to that of Kashmir but has remained untapped.
The State Government is also working towards promoting Jammu as an independent tourist destination and plans to bring the region’s Dogra heritage into focus as mentioned in the Common Minimum Programme of the PDP-BJP coalition Government.
“The tourism potential of Jammu is equal to that of Kashmir…The J&K Tourism Department will work in mission mode to attract leisure tourists this season,” Mufti said.
Calling for collaborated efforts by stakeholders to showcase various recreational places in Jammu as one summer package for tourists, he said the initiative to sell Jammu as an independent tourist destination has already been set into motion.
Referring to several recreational and historical places in Jammu region which have not been showcased so far, Mufti said places like Ranjit Sagar Dam in Lakhanpur-Sarthal, Sanasar and Baglihar Dam in Patnitop, Surinsar and Mansar lakes in Udhampur and Samba, Sinthan Top, Warwan in Kishtwar, Shahdara Sharief in Rajouri, Budha Amarnath and the seven lakes in Poonch have to be sold in a big way this season to promote Jammu as a “destination with recreational abundance”.
During the meeting, Mufti took a detailed feedback from all the Ministers, MLAs and MLCs to promote Jammu as one tourism package. “If tourism has to flourish, we have to have right linkages at the right places,” he said.
The Chief Minister said he will personally monitor the occupancy levels of all TDAs this season. “We cannot afford to keep infrastructure at these places idle. Our Tourism Authorities have to be professionally managed so that these become self-sustained,” Mufti Sayeed said and added that improving occupancy levels will be the top priority of the Government.
Mufti said in the long-term, the Government will need to draw a map to develop high-end tourism infrastructure also so that we cater to a totally new class of overseas and domestic visitors.
Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh laid stress on bringing on the main stage Jammu’s Dogra heritage which has also been mentioned in the Common Minimum Programme of the coalition Government.
“Besides heritage tourism, Jammu’s border tourism potential also needs to be explored in a big way,” he said.
The CEOs of Poonch, Rajouri, Patnitop, Bhaderwah, Kishtwar, Surinsar-Mansar and Lakhanpur-Sarthal Development Authorities briefed the Chief Minister about the present status of their Authorities.
Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Singh, Minister for Health and Medical Education Lal Singh, Minister for CAPD, Ch Zulfikar, Minister of State for Transport, Abdul Gani Kohli and Minister of State, Public Works and R&B Sunil Sharma participated in the meeting, which lasted over four hours.
The MLAs and MLCs who also attended the meeting included GM Saroori, Javed Rana, Devender Rana, Shakti Parihar, Daleep Parihar, Neelam Langeh, Rajiv Jasrotia, Jeevan Lal, Qamar Hussein, Shah Mohammad Tantray, Neelam Kumar, Dina Nath Bhagat, Davinder Manyal, Firdous Ahmad Tak, Ranbeer Singh Pathania, Sham Lal Baghat, Jahangir Hussain Mir, Dr. Shahnaz Ganai, Naresh Kumar Gupta and Yashpal Sharma.
Commissioner/Secretary Tourism, Shailendra Kumar, Director Tourism, Jammu, RK Verma, MD JKTDC and Director Tourism, Kashmir, Farooq A Shah and Deputy Commissioners of Samba, Udhampur, Kathua and Rajouri districts also attended the meeting.
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