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| Jammu's tourism: A sordid saga of apathy, neglect | | |
ET Plus Report
JAMMU, Mar 5: Jammu has faced systematic neglect over the decades especially with regards to exploitation of its immense tourism potential which is easily shadowed by the beauty and aura of Kashmir Valley. Jammu's tourism sector is a story of great disappointment. No spot has been developed so far that could qualify for being called a spot where the tourists have all facilities.
The fact of the matter is that all the beautiful places all over Jammu region, some of them in the mountains of Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Rajouri, Poonch, Udhampur and Reasi, and others in districts like Kathua, Jammu and Samba, find no mention on the tourism map of the State. The State Government had been saying it time and again that it wanted to develop all the tourist spots across the State. But that is not the case.
This is crystal clear that the State Government lacks tourism policy. If Katra is booming with pilgrims; there are more than 50,000 pilgrims daily visiting the Shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi. They are pilgrims and even for them there hardly is any facility by the Tourism Department. The entire show there is being managed by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, the Tourism Department is absent, as are its facilities. It has done nothing for Shiv Khori, another pilgrimage centre that is coming up in Reasi district. Simply by constituting the Tourism authorities or holding once or twice a year one or two festivals is not going to attract tourists nor create facilities.
The Tourism Department, headed by a visionary Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora, was expected to bring in some changes in the sector, but that has not happened, simply because neither the leaders of the region have raised a voice, nor the State Government has bothered to pay any attention. It was during the tenure of former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir that some attention was paid to some of the areas in the region. Bhaderwah was developed into a full fledged tourist spot, having an unmatched beauty and grandeur.
But even that project was not taken to its logical conclusion. The road connectivity is poor and there are no lodging facilities whatsoever, even the arrangements for Kailash yatra are highly inadequate. So where is the tourism policy for Jammu region. The leadership of Jammu must speak for the region. Kashmir is overflowing with tourists. The pilgrims of Vaishno Devi are also headed toward the Valley, because the tourism circuit in Jammu region doesn't give them the kind of facilities that are available in the Valley. It is good that Valley tourism is in its full bloom, but other regions should not be ignored. Jammu can accommodate a large number of tourists, if the necessary facilities are built taking pressure off the Valley's infrastructure where it is overstretched because of heavy presence of tourists. More than half a million tourists have already visited the Valley and more than double of that are expected in the next few months besides Amarnath pilgrims. While Valley should get its economy going, the Jammu and Ladakh regions too should have their share. They have their own beauty. |
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