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| Now eco-tourism after failure in adventure tourism | | | From tourism, to adventure tourism, to winter tourism and to pilgrim tourism the Jammu and Kashmir Government plans to move to eco -tourism. And an ann-oucement about the Government's intention was made by none other than the Minister for Forests,Mian Altaf. Altaf said that the government is developing eco-tourism huts in several forest areas of the state to promote eco-tourism. "We are developing some forest areas for tourism. But to ensure that wildlife or forests aren't disturbed, no permanent structures would be allowed.
Huts of wooden logs would be erected in these places, he has stated.He said that a proposal for Jungle Resort Corporation would be mooted soon. "In Bhaderwah, Mughal Road till Pir Ki Gali, Bangus and several other places eco-friendly projects would be taken up with local people as stakeholders," he said.Do the tourists need only the wooden huts for their rest and recreation ? Certainly not. But the idea is worth trying. It will be a novel experiment that is bound to attract foreign tourists who prefer adventure to resting and eating in rooms in hotels and houseboats. But the Government has to build the basic infrastructure in remote areas like Bhaderwah, Bungus and the belt between the Mughal Road and Pir Ki Gali. During the last 10 years the Government has been repeating its commitment on developing scenic Bungus valley into a major tourist detination. The plan for the development of the Bungus valley has been formulated and it is not yet clear whether it is being implemented or not. But field reports do indicate that the developmeent plan has remained under the carpet and hitherto the valley has not witnessed any development required for attracting tourists to the far-flung area.First of all road connectivity from Srinagar or from Jammu to these tourist destinations has not only to be developed but upgraded. You cannot expect tourists, eager to help the Government in promoting eco-tourism to undertake bone breaking journey to these remote areas. You cannot expect excursionists to enjoy nature's beauty from wooden huts which have no comfortable lodging and boarding facilities. Usually the state Goverment has been making one announcement after the other but till date there has been no sign of developed tourist circuits, tourist and model villages and new tourist resorts.
The century old tourist resorts like Pahalgam Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Koker-nag and the Mughal Gar dens besides the Dal and the Nigin lakes are the only areas frequented by the tourists.What is intriguing is that even these much frequented resorts have not witnessed any major facelift.If the Government plans to set up Jungle resort corporation for promoting eco-tourism there is nothing wrong in it.But the Corporation should have sufficient finances so that it can develop basic infrastructure needed by visitors in these hilly and remote areas. But if the Government plans to fleece the centre by setting up Jungle resort corporation it is something else and there is nothing new about such projects. The Government should come out with a statement on the quantum of money it received from the Government of India for developing new tourist circuits, resorts and model villages alongwith the details on utilisation of funds. If the Government fails to make public fund utilisation details one could construe that the fate of the proposed eco-tourism plan would be an exercise in futility. |
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