Once known as the traditional Infiltration route of terrorists coming from across the border and continuous ceasefire violations, North Kashmir’s Gurez valley is now India’s best offbeat tourist destination. Gurez was recently awarded a national award for being the best offbeat tourist destination in India.
The efforts of the Indian army are paying off. The Indian army along with the civil administration have been working hard to promote Gurez to bring tourists to this part of the Kashmir Valley. Around 0.4 million tourists have visited the Gurez valley since the summer of 2021. Securing the borders and opening the road to Gurez for the tourists has been the Indian Army’s priority. And the locals of the place are thankful to the soldiers for helping them with mostly every need of theirs.
”Whatever we have here is because of the Indian Army. We cannot forget what the Indian army has done for the people of Gurez. They live in our hearts. The change that happened in the last few years specially after Jammu Kashmir became a Union Territory, we have Mobile phone service here now. We are thankful to the Indian Army that our daughters are able to give online classes from Gurez. We are thankful to the Indian Army for opening Gurez as the tourist destination. Army is securing the area and are helping us to bring the tourists here and from the last two years we are finally getting a lot of tourists. And we are hopeful we will get more tourists in future, all the projects running here are because of the Indian army,” said Ghulam Mohamad Lone, Sarpanch, Kanzalwan, Gurez.
There are dozens of new hotels and homestays that have opened in the Gurez Valley. The locals are converting their houses into homestays and allowing tourists to experience the culture and heritage of the Gurez Valley. All these hoteliers and guest house owners are profiting from the tourist arrivals. There are numerous camp sites across the Gurez valley run by the locals. The trekkers from across the world have been visiting and hiking the mountains of the himalayan region.
”We opened in the month of May and we have been able to do a business of around 9 lakh rupees. All the hotels and guest houses were booked. This place had ceasefire violations, shelling but from the last few years it has become peaceful, and it has also become a tourist hub. We are sure our future is bright and there is a lot of talent here. Kashmir is the real heaven and now people are finding new places in the valley to visit. We could have not done anything without the help of the Indian army. The army interacted with the tourists and gave them a different experience of the place,” said Mohsin Lone, hotelier.
The Tourism department has been holding festivals and promoting these destinations through road shows and campaigning across India. The tourism department has been helping the locals to convert their houses into homestays. Earlier, people required permission to go to Gurez valley from administration and security forces, which is not required anymore.
”Gurez has become a prominent destination and I want to congratulate the people of Gurez for getting a national award for best offbeat destination. We want to showcase the culture and ethnic varieties of the Gurez to the tourists from across the country and world. It’s a paradise of ethnic varieties. We have done it. Gurez has become a great destination for the tourists. We are promoting the places and showcasing this to tourists. We are taking new initiatives and we have got a great response from people. The benefit of the tourism boom will be for the locals of the place,” said G N Ito, Director of Tourism.
The locals of the Gurez valley are welcoming the tourists with open arms. They have opened their homes to tourists across the world. With the main motive of showcasing the culture and ethnic values of the people of the Gurez.
*** Jammu and Kashmir constructs 6,450 km of road length in 2 years; becomes only third in country to achieve milestone
People in Jammu and Kashmir are reaping the benefits of road connectivity which they were deprived of for past seventy years.
The insensitivity of earlier regimes in road connectivity had deprived many areas of development and prosperity so and so that many hamlets in the Himalayan region were forbidden.
The road construction in Jammu and Kashmir picked up pace after 2019 with focused attention of the Government on major highways in three years and thereby travel time between major destinations across the Union Territory has reduced considerably.
During the last two years, road and tunnel infrastructure has been prioritized and around one lakh crore is being spent to build a robust road network. Last year, Jammu and Kashmir has set a new record of constructing 6,450 kms of road length. Jammu and Kashmir achieved third rank in the target of longest road length in the country.
Earlier, six kms of road length was constructed per day which has increased to 20 km per day from last few years. Under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Jammu and Kashmir ranks fourth in the country.
In the last two years, a total of 169 bridges have been constructed to strengthen the transport system and in the last financial year, 7610 km of road length has been macadamized which used to be around 2500-3000 km previously. Travel time between Jammu and Srinagar has been reduced from 12 hours to 7 hours.
In 2022, for the second consecutive year that J&K maintained its national ranking as J&K was once again ranked among top three performing states/UTs at the national level for construction of road length per year under the PMGSY.
Udhampur district bagged the top position at the national level for successfully implementing the PMGSY for 2020-21. The district remained on top for constructing roads of 560.49 kms.
Currently under PMGSY, an average nine kms of road length is constructed per day, which is higher than the achievement for the year 2020-21.
Notably, the Union Ministry of Rural Development had sanctioned 3,347 schemes under the PMGSY-I to be executed in 12 phases envisaging construction of 18,432.79 km roads costing Rs 1,19,646.76 crore to provide connectivity to 2,148 habitations. Under the PMGSY-2, 107 schemes (704.55 km) have been sanctioned costing Rs 790.49 crore.
Last week the Union Ministry for Rural Development approved PMGSY-III for 1,276 km costing Rs 1,357 crore for J&K with an aim to provide all-weather road connectivity
to unconnected habitations for sustainable and inclusive growth.
The PMGSY-III is yet another milestone in the rural connectivity of J&K.
The Central Government is supporting the efforts of J&K Government to improvise the rural infrastructure so that the connectivity can be enhanced and the rural population can get the benefits for ease of living.
J&K Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha expressed gratitude to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Rural Development, Giriraj Singh for granting approval to PMGSY-III and termed it as yet another milestone in the rural connectivity of J&K.
“It will provide all-weather road connectivity to unconnected habitats for sustainable and inclusive growth”, he said.
Courtesy : Monitor News Desk