Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 7: To give flip to State tourism, Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) and Information Department Ch Zulfkar Ali today urged for holistic infrastructural development along with tourism promotion of scenic destinations in the State.
Chairing a review meeting for the development of tourist infrastructure in Rajouri, the Minister said that it is important to bring other scenic areas into the tourist map which have remained in oblivion so far. Besides developing infrastructure at these places, he called for kicking up mega promotional activities of these areas.
The Minister said the need of the hour is to connect the State’s scenic beauty, its history, and its culture with tourism, and let people in the country and across the world know about these assets. He said exhaustive work needs to be done to identify and promote those areas of the State that so far have remained aloof of many development projects.
Discussing the five schemes run by Rajouri Development Authority (RDA), the District Commissioner Rajouri Shaid Iqbal Choudhary informed the meeting that the development of “Amusement Park” at Kotranka in the Rajouri district was the commitment of late Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Syed. He informed that the scheme costs Rs 588 lakh and the district administration under eco-tourism convergence fund is willing to bear 50 percent of the cost, and the rest 50 percent is to be taken care by the Tourism Department.
Likewise, he said the developmental cost of “Danna Top” and “Kenchi Morh as tourist sites is Rs 188 lakh. Again the district administration would pay 50 percent of the cost, while the rest 50 percent is to be managed by Tourism Department.
Discussing the development of “Seven Lakes on Pir Panjal Ranges”, Choudhary Zulfkar Ali said it was the commitment of the Mufti Mohammad and should be honored by starting work on the project at an earliest. The meeting was informed that the scheme cost is around Rs 3200 lakh.
Likewise, the Minister directed the concerned to expedite the work on other schemes including “Running Water Resort on River Ans” and “Construction of Tribal Cultural Centre at Nagrota, Rajouri.”
The meeting also decided to host a Rajouri festival in coming months, where different aspects of the district including its rich cultural heritage, its unique cuisines would be presented to the visitors.
The meeting also discussed establishing of Gandola project in the area for which the Minister directed the district administration and the officers from Cable Car Corporation to identify certain sites from which the project could be started from.
Secretary Tourism M H Malik, Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Managing Director JK Tourism Development Corporation Sarmand Hafeez, Director Tourism Samita Sethi, General Manager, Cable Car Corporation G M Jamali, Managing Director Cable Car Corporation, Conservator, Forest, West Circle, Rajouri B Mohan Das, M D Shamim Ahmad Wani, Chief Executive Officer Rajouri District Authority Showkat Malik and other concerned officers attended the meeting.
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