Today during the proceedings of the upper house of state legislature, very important issue related to the current status of various tourism projects in Rajouri and Poonch districts of Pir Panjal were raised by BJP senior leader and MLC Vibodh Gupta. However, due to time constraints, the issues could not be discussed and MLC was provided written answers to various questions raised by him. It was informed that in order to promote tourism at historic places close to Rajouri city the hanging garden project has been sanctioned near Dani Dhar fort with an estimated cost of 3.25 crores. However, there are certain issues related to land acquisition in the area and same are being sorted out. Regarding the hiring of manpower to maintain various existing tourist facilities in Rajouri and Poonch, the house was informed that at the moment the Government is using the existing manpower and so far Government has no plans to hire new manpower for this.
Regarding the questions of MLC related to the development of potential tourist sites and preparation of a master plan for Rajouri, it was informed that at the moment the town planning organization is working on these. It was further informed that a series of new DPR’s have already been prepared to initiate new tourism projects in Rajouri. Regarding development of seven lakes circuit in Pir Panjal it was informed that a budget of Rs. 4.19 crore has been sanctioned for this and work on various components of this project especially facilities for trackers and a trekking facility are in progress. Regarding Gandola project from Shadra Sharief to Dehra Ki Gali (DKG) it was informed that based on the technical report of experts, it was found that the area has many very high tension poles which have come up recently and as such, this project is not found technically feasible. Moreover, the house was informed that the heritage tourism project near Shiv Mandhir Rajouri is in progress and work is being executed on the same. Also, it was informed that tourism projects for midway tourist facilities, Nagali Sab, Budha Amarnath, Shadra Sharief and Veerbadshewar Mandhir are in various stages of development.
Latter MLC Vibodh Gupta raised all these issues during zero hour and impressed upon Government to take concerted and serious efforts for developing Rajouri and Poonch as a model tourism area. This he said will go a long way in the development of the area and in creating more employment opportunities for the local youth of the area.