Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti today directed use of local material and architectural patterns while developing facilities at tourist destinations.
Chairing the Governing Body meetings of Surinsar-Mansar and Billawar-Duggan Tourism Development Authorities here today, the Chief Minister directed the concerned authorities to prefer raising eco-friendly cottage structures at the tourist places which can easily gel with the local ecology and avoid concretisation of these fragile zones.The Chief Minister directed pacing up of works at the tourist destinations of Surinsar and Mansar saying the places are central to the tourist circuit of Jammu. She said Surinsar could easily be co-opted into MICE tourism given its proximity to the winter capital.The meeting was informed that the Surinsar Park would be ready by December, 2017 while as the Amphitheatre would be ready by March, 2018.The Chief Minister directed exploring possibility of starting boat rides in the local lake for which she asked the Tourism and Wildlife Departments to undertake joint surveys.The meeting was also informed that yatri sarai at Utterbani is ready to be operationalised while as all flood protection works stand completed there.
Also, the meeting was told that, the Development Authority intends to develop tented accommodations for high end tourists at Mansar while as a Rs. 54.70 crore heritage project for Parmandal and Utterbani is being readied for approval.Mehbooba Mufti also directed developing wayside facilities including gender based toilets on the roads leading to the tourist places all across and tie up with reputed professional agencies for their upkeep and maintenance.In another meeting, the Chief Minister directed exploring the so far untapped tourist potential of Billawar-Duggan area given the important heritage structures the area is known for. She said the whole stretch is quite appropriate for setting up eco-friendly huts, mud huts, adventure sports like para gliding and the same should be explored.Mehbooba Mufti directed holding of seasonal festivals for attracting tourists to these places which would finally promote these in the tourist market.Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. Nirmal Singh; Minister for Forests, Ch. Lal Singh; Minister of State for Tourism, Priya Sethi; legislators, Devinder Singh Rana, R. S. Pathania and Devinder Manyal were present in the meetings.Also present in the meetings were Secretary, Tourism, M. H. Malik; Deputy Commissioners of Samba, Jammu and Reasi; Director, Tourism, Jammu, Smita Sethi; Director, Floriculture, Jammu, Babita Rakwal; heads of several engineering wings besides officers of Forest, Wildlife and other Departments.