Nissar Ahmad Wani, Director, Tourism, Kashmir, says that developing new destinations would not only generate employment but also make the sector more sustainable
How are you developing new tourist circuits beyond Srinagar and Pahalgam?
We all know that Kashmir has been known as the Paradise on Earth. Apart from Gulmarg and Pahalgam, there are many other places that we are promoting which will eventually will turn out to be better than the existing ones. We have Doodhpatri, Sintham Top, Pir Panjal Pass and Sheshnag.
These place also offer opportunities for adventure tourism like white water rafting, motor biking, skiing, ice skating, sledging and others here. There is ice hockey as well, which is found in very few destinations in India. The upper reaches of Gulmarg has gondola facility which can be used to access the slopes. If this is upgraded, it can be used for international skiing competitions.
Moreover, we have many ponds, parks, glaciers and lakes like Wular, Dal and others which make Kashmir a tourist destination throughout the year. There isn’t a single place which can’t be admired for its beauty. Even the almond and saffron fields are so scenic that you can sit and admire them for hours.
How do you balance sustainability and tourism in these times of over-tourism?
We are trying to attract more tourists so that we can diversify to newer destinations to avoid a lot of pressure on one place. In our existing and established tourists destinations, we have enforced a 100 per cent ban on further concretisation . Along with this, we are trying to preserve the fragile ecosystem and utilise bio-degradable products efficiently so that our tourism remains sustainable. During the last 10 years, the ecosystem maintenance was not up to the mark but now, along with upgrading our tourist destinations we are ensuring that the ecosystem is not adversely affected.
The Prime Minister has said that the cities should be developed in a way so that people travel more within India rather than abroad. How will you translate this to reality?
We are contributing 100 per cent by providing guides, sledge runners and hotel facilities in maximum number of cities. We are trying to promote new places by popularising them. Our focus is to promote all the destinations till Kargil.
Earlier a lot of films were shot in Kashmir but now that has waned. Will you try to encourage that again?
We will, definitely. We are trying to make sure that the filmmakers don’t stop coming here. Whenever there is a request for a shoot, we try to facilitate it in one day, provided that they have given us a valid ID, synopsis of the film and the dates for shooting. If they fulfill all these requirements, we give them permission to shoot within 24 hours without charging any fees.
The synopsis is important so that there’s no controversy later on. We have an ongoing policy to regulate the film industry in Jammu and Kashmir.
Is there any programme under which you train locals in the hospitality sector as this would encourage tourism and also encourage employment?
I’ll tell you an instance. We recently went to Kalyan village where the association of hoteliers told us that the people were not trained properly. We organised a training programme at the Institute of Hotel Management, Srinagar within 10 days. It was meant to develop the personality of the employees and regulate their behaviour. We have crafted a programme for tourist guides, rafting guides, assistants in house boats at IHM, Srinagar, at the University of Kashmir as well as some small institutes in Pahalgam. We are planning to train taxi drivers because we have got some complaints against them. We are trying to regulate unfair practices by drivers. In order to smoothen the system further, we have finalised the rates for every service in consultation with different departments and concerned agencies for the entire year. The fixed rates have already been implemented. There is a penalty of `15 lakh on violators. So if tourists complain, the violator needs to pay the penalty. Every important destination has a separate Tourism Police to take care of these problems.
Photo: Ranjan Dimri
