The State’s Tourism and Culture minister Satpal Maharaj has written to the Union Minister for Home Affairs, Amit Shah requesting that the Timmersain area of Niti Valley in Chamoli district be removed from the Inner Line. Addressing media persons here on Friday, the minister said that a snow Shiv Ling forms naturally in Timmersain Mahadev as it does at Amarnath in Kashmir.
However, this location in the Niti Valley is part of the inner line due to which few people are able to visit it. He has requested Shah to remove this area from the inner line so that tourists and pilgrims can visit the place in large numbers. This will encourage tourism and generate employment opportunities in the area. Maharaj said that this is an effective way to boost employment and also ensure proper monitoring of such regions in the border areas of the state.
He said that the Harshil and Mukhba areas in Uttarkashi district had also been removed from the inner line in the past. The minister also recalled that during the recent conclave of the Himalayan states held in Mussoorie, the Union Finance Minister had expressed concern at migration from remote areas and had advocated measures like boosting tourism in border areas to facilitate development and mitigate migration.
