The Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Nirmal Singh today directed the officers to speed up the projects being undertaken in the tourism sector so that this part of the state also comes up on the tourist map and tourist related activities get a fillip.
The Deputy Chief Minister was addressing officers during a review meeting convened to discuss the status of various projects being undertaken in tourism sector in the Jammu division.Secretary Tourism Mr. Farooq Ahmad Shah, CEO Patnitop Development Authority Mr. Rakesh Sarangal , Joint Director Tourism Namrata Dogra and other senior officers of the department were present.Dr Singh asked the officers to speed up the work on the prestigious Jammu rope-way project being undertaken in the Jammu district with an estimated cost of Rs 60 Crore, so that it comes up as one of the major attractions of the city.
He said that the officers should synergise their efforts so that it is completed within the shortest possible time and bottle necks, if any are removed. “The project is of prime importance to the city starting from Peer Khoo-Mahamaya Mandir- Bahu Fort, it would be a major attraction connecting the three historic places of the area. The latest fully imported system should be installed in the same and requisite advice should also be obtained from the experts of the field’’, he added.The Deputy Chief Minister also asked the officers to prepare a Detailed Project report for bringing the Chamyalal -Ramgarh under the ambit of the border-pilgrimage tourism on the analogy of the recently announced circuit of Suchetgarh. He also called for speeding up the work on the Ranjeet Sagar project and said that it would accelerate the tourism related activities in the area.
While asking the officers to undertake the necessary steps for bringing the Bani basholi areas of Kathua district in the Tourist circuit, the Deputy Chief Minister said that these have a huge potential of tourism and the need is to explore the same by way of creating new assets and augmenting the existing one. “This area has a huge potential of acting as a Gateway of tourism of the state and the onus lies on us to explore the same and give fillip to this sector by way of creating the necessary resources’’, he maintained. It was given out in the meeting that the Patnitop Rope-way project is being fast paced and latest technical expertise and machinery would be used in its execution, so that it comes up as one of the major tourist attractions of the state. It was also told that the Ranjeet Sagar Dam project would
The meeting was also told that state of art light and sound equipment would be installed at Bagh-e-Bahu for promoting the domestic tourist activities.The Deputy Chief Minister later undertook a review meeting of Jammu Development Authority (JDA) which was attended by Vice Chairman , Mr Mubarak Singh and other senior officers.Dr Singh directed for fast pacing the work on prestigious Jammu Bus-Stand project so that it is completed within the stipulated time frame. He said that the shopkeepers who are getting displaced should be adequately rehabilitated and the bottlenecks, if any should be removed.
The Deputy Chief Minister also directed for the early finalisation of the Jammu master plan so that it can be put on public domain and later finalized. He said that the Jammu city has been constantly expanding and the need for identifying the priority sectors besides providing the requisite facilities to the people is the need of the hour.Dr Singh also asked for speeding up the work on the river front landscaping of the Tawi river by dovetailing of various schemes of different departments. He said in the initial phase about 1.25 Km should be undertaken which can be later extended as well.While calling for setting up of new colonies in Jammu, the Deputy Chief Minister said that the same would go a long way in solving the housing problems of the people. He said that these should be laid in such a manner so that they are having all the requisite amenities needed for modern living.