Excelsior Correspondent
SHOPIAN, Aug 29: The potential places along the historical Mughal road would be soon developed as eco-tourism sites under a special Rs 1.50 crore project.
The project to be jointly implemented by the Forest, Tourism and Wild Life Departments envisages massive aforestation, conservation of wild life habitats and rich eco-system of the area , besides creation of sustainable tourism infrastructure.
The information was given by the Minister for Forests and Environment, Mian Altaf Ahmed during his tour to Shopian district.
During the tour, the Minister chaired a high-level meeting attended by the district administration, senior Forest, Tourism and Wild Life functionaries. He later visited various areas along the Mughal road up to Peer Ki Gali.
The Minister informed that the area was bestowed with rich flora and Fauna, besides destinations having cultural and heritage importance which can attract a large number of nature lovers from across the globe. He said that the main objective to develop eco-tourism sites in theState was to offer an insight into the impact of human beings on the environment and to foster a greater responsibility towards the natural habitats.
He said eco-tourism project also envisages public participation in the conservation of pristine nature besides providing them better earning opportunities.
Stressing for maintaining better coordination between various departments , he underlined the need to ensure minimum disturbance to the ecosystem and said that the rich habitats , forests , water bodies and over all natural beauty were the invaluable assets which make Jammu and Kashmir a favourite for the visitors from across the world.
Responding to local demands, the Minister asked the concerned functionaries to ensure that the people may not face any problem in getting the genuine scale of timber. He asked the officials to ensure that the genuine requirement of timber of every citizen was met.
Chief Wild Life Warden Jammu and Kashmir, AK Singh, Deputy Commissioner Shopian Javed Khan, besides a large number of functionaries representing various departments attended the meeting.
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