Surinsar and Mansar lakes in Kathua district have natural as well as religious significance. Their religious significance to the people is steeped in history. Notwithstanding that, uninformed and irresponsible people have brought damage to the ecology of these two lakes, and they have lost part of their shine and glory. Fortunately, the Government is mindful of the importance of water bodies to the overall ecology of the area and has devised legislation to protect them from vandals. The committee on Environment of Legislative Council has recently met to take stock of how environments of the two water bodies can be protected. Since the Committee meet was attended by senior members of bureaucracy and district administration, it is expected that the decisions taken for preservation of pristine purity of the two water bodies and the measure suggested for their development and embellishment will be accepted and enforced by the Government. It is in fitness of things that a strong suggestion was made by the Committee regarding mass awareness of the importance and beauty of maintaining the purity of water bodies. As we find, preservation of clean and original environment is something that falls within the jurisdiction of more than one department. For example, forests are integral to all natural spots as these serve as life line to the environmental freshness and scenic beauty of specific spots so as to make them acceptable to tourists. It is natural to imagine that a tourist spot essentially is a pure, clean and attractive place to become acceptable to tourists. Ecology is the first consideration of making a spot tourist worthy. Saving environment, forests and wild life is an expensive exercise. It is the duty of the officials in the field to utilize the allotted funds judiciously. The Environment branch should prioritize its requirements and spend the money judiciously for developing the spots into a tourist destination. The spots will bring return but in the fist place investment has to be made for a long time project.
As the Committee is going to submit its report to the Chairman Legislative Council for drawing the attention failed iof the Government, we would suggest him to ask for similar reviews of other tourist spots in the region. This is important if we intend to lay stress on devolving tourist industry in Jammu region as well. New tourist spots in Poonch, Rajouri and other districts need to be explored for development. In particular in Rajouri district there are a number of very attractive spots some of these along the newly built Mughal Road. Therefore it is advisable to take in hand development of tourist spots in the region and plan ahead of the day when the historical regions like Poonch and Rajouri will become real attraction for national visitors and tourists.
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