Minster for Tourism, Tassaduq Hussain Mufti, today conducted an extensive tour of Sonamarg wherein he reviewed tourism infrastructure and other facilities put in place for tourists and locals alike.Director Tourism Mahmood A Shah, Managing Director JKTDC, SDM Ganderbal, sectoral and district officers also accompanied the Minister.The Minister sought details about the departmental assets, their upgradation and renovation, capacity building programmes of the staff, waste management of the assets and promotional activities being taken up by the department.Stressing on maintaining better sanitation and hygiene in and around the departmental assets, the Minister said that lackadaisical attitude of concerned officials would not be tolerated.He stressed the need for laying equal focus on the waste management in the environmentally fragile destinations, besides keeping a check on activities adverse to the environs of the area.The Minister stressed on consulting experts for proper designing of huts and other assets at tourist places that not only have aesthetically beautiful facade gelling with nature but also have magnificent interiors.
He stressed for holistic development of tourist infra to attract more tourists to the area without disturbing the natural essence of the place and its surrounding ecology and asked for maintaining rich heritage, habitat, diverse flora and fauna existing in the area.During his visit, the Minister also interacted with tourists stranded in Sonamarg due to landslides on Srinagar-Leh national highway. He directed the concerned for putting men and machinery on the job to restore the road for traffic at an earliest, besides making all possible arrangements for the stranded tourist to avoid any kind of inconvenience to them.Mufti also had a meeting with Transport Association and other stakeholders wherein he urged them to work in tandem with the department for the promotion of tourism in Sonamarg, besides proper implementation of service charges fixed by the department for various tourism activities in the area.During the tour, the Minister visited Thajwas, Golf Course, Children’s Park, JKTDC Kongposh Hotel, Fish Pond, Parking Yard and various other spots in the area.The Minister also met various delegations during the tour and gave a patient hearing to their grievances and issues raised by them.