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| Gulmarg gears up for winter actions | | | Early Times Reporter
Srinagar | Feb 17
The preparations for the fifth National Winter Games to be held in Gulmarg in northern Kashmir have been finalised by the administration.
These games are being held in Gulmarg for the third time earlier it was held in 1998 and 2004.
The five-day event starting February 18 will see around 500 participants and 17 teams taking part.
The teams include Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, New Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Border Security Force (BSF) Navy and Army Sports Control.
They will go head to head in events such as slalom, giant slalom and snowboard in alpine skiing, freestyle (men and women) in cross-country, figure skating, speed skating (men and women) and ice hockey for men in skating rink category.
The officials in the state are hopeful that this event will bring the state into global tourism destination map."I think it's a mega event you can imagine there are around 400-500 people from every state coming to participate in this event," said G.M. Dar, a tourist official from the state.
"If we give them a good atmosphere replete with all the facilities and if this event is successful these athletes will be our brand ambassador who will go back and tell the people in their states that they should visit this place at least once in their life time. I think it's a very big test for this place and Jammu and Kashmir," Dhar said.
The locals are excited the games have returned after a four-year hiatus."The work is in progress here for the national level games here as you can see labourers are busy giving the final touches and it's the hot topic of discussion in Gulmarg these days and people are very happy," said, Mansoor Ahmed.
Tourism is the mainstay of Kashmir's economy with Gulmarg contributing a major chunk to it. The games such as these will only help in getting the much-needed money for the development of the state.
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