Sir,
Udhampur town is located on the Jammu-Kashmir National Highway at Shivalik foothills which are the part of the mighty Himalayas.Udhampur District has its administrative Headquarters at Udhampur about 60 Kms from Jammu on the J and K National Highway.There was a time when the boundaries of Udhampur district used to extend to as far as Padder, Jawahar Tunnel and Budhal but then Doda district was carved out of it and its area was drastically reduced.Again in 2008, with the creation of new Districts of Ramban, Reasi and Samba in Jammu Division,Udhampur lost much of its area to these newly carved districts.Not only this, it lost many tourist and religious spots to these districts.For instance, it lost Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine to Reasi District and Sanasar to Ramban.Thus, it is Udhampur which has lost maximum in terms of these world famous tourist and religious spots.Now, Udhampur has only Patnitop, Sudhmahadev, Mantalai etc in the name of tourist resorts and holy Devika as religious place which too has been turned into a nallah with the construction of embankments and release of household sewage from the houses constructed on its banks.Though the rejuvenation plan of the Devika river has been approved, the work has not started yet.However,there is one more place near Udhampur, which, if developed,can add beauty to Udhampur and attract a large no of tourists.It is the picturesque spot named Gangera hills located near the District Headquarters.The demand for development of Gangera hills has been projected many a time but the successive state governments have given only assurances to the people of Udhampur to develop Gangera hills as Tourist/picnic spot but these assuarances have proved to be hollow.There is need to develop a recreational park and view points on the top of the hill.Moreover the vast area of Gangera hills needs to be demarcated and fenced by the Forest /Revenue Department to prevent illegal encroachment of the Government land by the unscrupuolous elements.The Gangera hills, being nearer to the Udhampur town and the Jammu and Srinagar National Highway has vast potential to attract tourists from within and outside the state.Therefore, it is the need of the hour to develop Gangera hills as a tourist spot to attract tourists and boost the local economy.
Ashok Sharma,
Housing Colony,
Udhampur
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