Highest priority on safety, security of adventure tourism
Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, Dec 17: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said that his Government is trying its best to ensure that there is no laxity in financial discipline.
Omar, who is also Finance Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, told reporters here on the sidelines of a function at SKICC Srinagar that his Government had tried to ensure financial discipline over the past 15-16 months. He was reacting to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement about the need for States to ensure fiscal discipline for reducing the debt-GDP ratio.
“We have tried our best to ensure that there is no laxity in financial discipline. We are running what we have inherited. If any of you can show that we misused the money or used it irresponsibly, I will definitely respond to that,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the J&K is not financially self-sufficient yet and that its dependence on the Centre has increased after the formation of the Union Territory.
“We are dependent on the Centre for a large part of our financial resources. That dependency has increased instead of decreasing since we became a UT,” he said
“As a state, we used to get a share in Central taxes. We do not get that share now. As a UT, a lot of pressure from our budget goes directly to the Centre.”
Omar cautioned against unsafe practices in adventure tourism that leads to loss of life. He said his Government was doing everything possible in this regard but places highest emphasis on safety and security of the people.
“We do not want such things to happen here, where people are put in danger,” he said, referring to recent accidents outside the J&K. “These things will be introduced slowly, but we have to pay special attention to safety and security.”
The Chief Minister said that tourism is a key sector for economic revival, particularly adventure tourism. “Skiing is a very big area for us to promote adventure tourism. But along with that, trekking, mountaineering, and white-water rafting,” he said.
He said the Government was gradually expanding activities, citing paragliding as an example. “Recently, I gave certificates to many people in Jammu for completing a paragliding course. Now they can start a paragliding service here,” he said.
Omar questioned restrictions on several tourist destinations. “First, open the destinations that are right in front of us. On one hand, we talk about tourism promotion, and on the other, so many areas are still closed.”
“When you go to Gulmarg, you cannot go too far from Gondola on either side, you cannot go to Drung. Doodhpathri destination is closed. Open all these places first,” he said.
On Kashmir’s electricity crisis, the Chief Minister said the power generation in the UT has fallen significantly due to decrease in water discharge in the river bodies.
“We know it is very cold here and people need to keep themselves warm but they should use the electricity judiciously,” he added.
Responding to a question on Bihar’s CM pulling down the veil of a Muslim woman, Omar said such incidents were not new. “We have seen this before here. Did you forget how PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti pulled the veil off a legitimate voter in the polling station during elections?”
Calling the incident a continuation of past conduct, the Chief Minister said, “This is a continuation of the same thing. We saw this many years ago here. That was also regrettable.”
Omar said such conduct was unacceptable. “A man does this. This is not permissible anywhere,” he said. He added, “If the Chief Minister did not want to give her an order, he could have kept her aside. But humiliating her like this in front of everyone is a very wrong thing.”
“This is also regrettable. Slowly, slowly, Nitish Kumar, who was first understood as a secular and sensible leader, maybe now his reality is coming out,” he added.
Earlier in the morning, the Chief Minister addressed the 17th Annual Convention of the Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) at the SKICC, emphasising that J&K is ideally placed as a destination for adventure tourism activities.
The 4-day national event being held in Srinagar from December 17 to 20, 2025, is aimed at positioning J&K as a leading global destination for adventure tourism.
Addressing the inaugural session of the ATOAI convention, Omar lauded the efforts of ATOAI for organizing its 17th Annual Convention at Srinagar, aimed at promoting responsible, safe, sustainable & resilient adventure tourism in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Chief Minister highlighted that Jammu and Kashmir has remained pioneer in adventure tourism notably, in skiing mountaineering, trekking etc all across the globe.
Omar emphasised that technology integration is essential to promote and realise advanced adventure tourism potential in Jammu and Kashmir. He laid stress on introducing artificial snow so as to start skiing early and to prolong duration of skiing calender in Gulmarg which would also help in mitigating the effects of climate change resulting in lesser and delayed snowfalls.
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