No question of leasing out Yusmarg to Army: Rather

‘Spot being developed to lure domestic, foreign tourists’

Stating that Yusmarg is one of the famous tourist resorts of the state which Government is keen to develop for domestic and international tourists, Minister for Finance and Ladakh Affairs, Abdul Rahim Rather Tuesday said all apprehensions about leasing out Yusmarg to Army are baseless and incorrect.
The Minister said that it was beyond ones imagination to think of leasing out a developed tourist resort to Army for its artillery operations. “It seems some defeated elements are deliberately raking up a non-existing issue to vitiate the atmosphere of peace and development just to satiate their petty interests. People must be vigilant against the machinations of such disruptive forces, trying to exploit sentiments of the innocent people on one pretext or the other,” Rather added.
He said some major initiatives have already been taken for this purpose, adding, “Yusmarg Development Authority (YDA) is in place which has already started building tourist infrastructure in Yusmarg for promotion of tourism besides exploiting tourism potential in its adjacent areas.”
Finance Minister said that main emphasis was on to develop the area as Eco-Tourism spot at macro level owing to its virgin beauty. “In fact, services of reputed consortium, Geo Tech Consultants, which is constantly doing alignment job of J&K Cable Car Corporation, have also been hired to undertake survey and pre-feasibility report for construction of a modern Chair Lift Project from Yusmarg to Bargah and Yusmarg to Nilnag which will go a long way in promoting Yusmarg as a favourite and preferred tourist place,” Rather added. 
He said Master Plan for Yusmarg for 2009-2014 is actively under implementation which does not allow any kind of violation in its land use. “Under these conditions, all apprehensions about leasing out Yusmarg to Army are totally incorrect,” Rather maintained. He said YDA has spent about Rs 16 crore for infrastructural development in Yusmarg during last about 3 years.

Previous post To keep flies away, butcher caught spraying insecticides on mutton
Next post Kargil’s divided families yearn for reunion with relatives across LoC