Friday, 13 July 2012

Thanks to Govt. apathy: Patnitop, a neglected paradise of J&K

Tahir Mushtaq


JAMMU, July 08: Though the government is spending crores of rupees to develop the tourist places in Kashmir valley, but in Jammu region, most of the potential tourist spots have been neglected. 

One such place, Patnitop, a paradise in the region is facing total neglect from the government and tourism department and not much funds have been released for its development.
 

Every year thousands of tourists thousands of tourists visit Patnitop to relax themselves in summer and enjoy the snowfall in winters. But these days the condition of this famous spot is shambles due to the negligence of the concern department.
 

One can observe polythene bags and other waste material in different areas of Patnitop which reflects the ugly face of this old picnic spot.
 

Besides this there are no such parking arrangements to cop up the heavy rush of vehicles resulting heavy traffic congestion of vehicles during peak season.
 
Moreover the sanitation facilities are also very bad adding troubles to the tourists to enjoy their trip.
 
While talking to TNI Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Patnitop Development Authority, (PDA) Raman Kesar said that he has joined the department just two months back and didn’t have much knowledge about the matter.
 

However, Keasar revealed that PDA has planned to setup three more parking places around the area so that parking problem should be sort-out.
 

“The work is in process to clean the garbage dumped in different part of Patnitop besides regular cleaning facility will also provide make environment clean” added Kesar.
 

Kesar maintained that regarding sanitation facility the department is planned to construct some more toilets and within 20 days all other shortcoming will be improvement to smoothen the tourist flow.
 
Further the ambitious ropeway project is still a dream and is still hanging in balance.
 

Pertinent to mention here that on August 9, 2007, the government had entered into an agreement with the Nagarjuna Construction Company to construct ropeway project at Patnitop. It would have been the first ever project of its kind in the tourism sector in Jammu and Kashmir with the 100 per cent financial support from a private player.
 

They were to invest more than Rs 90 crore on the basis on build operate and transfer (BOT) agreement.
 

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