Div Com (J) interacts with Market Associations, Civil society to discuss dev issues & tourism promotion

Jammu: Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Ramesh Kumar Monday interacted with the Market Associations and civil society members and discussed the development issues, promotion of tourism in districts of Jammu division and arrangements for smooth conduct of Amarnath Yatra.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Commissioner Jammu, AvnyLavasa; Director Tourism Jammu VivekanandRai; SSP Jammu, ChandanKohli; Commissioner JMC, Rahul Yadav; President Chamber of Commerce, Arun Gupta, Presidents, Representatives of Market Associations, Prominent citizens, civil society members besides Chief Engineers of PWD, JPDCL, and other concerned officers were also present.
At the outset, the Div Com apprised the participants that the Government has taken varied steps for the promotion of religious tourism and cultural festivals in the districts of the division to attract tourist footfall towards new destinations.
The participants gave their valuable suggestions for promotion of tourist circuits.
The participants suggested promoting the potential pilgrimageand tourist circuits to attract the pilgrims coming for Amarnath Yatra and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Pilgrimage.
The participants expressed gratitude to the Government for development of the Musical fountain at Bagh e Bahu and the start of the beating retreat ceremony at Suchetgarh Border to attract the tourists. They suggested holding the Beating-the-Retreat ceremony on all days during the Yatrainstead of Saturday, Sunday only.
Hailing the decision of the government to promote unexploreddestinations, the representatives of Market Associations said thatthe development of tourist circuits in the region will definitely boost the local economy. They also suggested starting of Special bus services for Amarnath Yatris from Bhagwati Nagar to Raghunath Temple, Bahu Fort and other places of tourist attraction.
They called for giving wide publicity to the Local tourist destinations through different modes. They suggested distributing the pamphlets with detailed information about the tourist places among theyatris so that they can visit these places.
The participants also gave suggestions for making this year’s Amarnath Yatra a memorable experience for the pilgrims. They suggested checking of the documents and tagging of vehicles only at Lakhanpur to avoid repeated checking at every Naka. They also requested for uninterrupted water, power supply at Langer sites during Yatra days, besides, development of more facilities en-route like better sanitation, mobile toilets etc.
The display of taxi charges and bus fare from Airport to different destinations and an effective traffic management plan was also stressed upon.
The Div Com gave a patient hearing and said that all the suggestions will be considered for overall development of the region and for the smooth conduct of yatra. He said that the cooperation of all the stakeholders was necessary to avoid inconvenience to the pilgrims.