In a move to restore normalcy in the region, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday held a meeting with administrative officials in Gulmarg, a popular tourist destination in the territory.
Sharing images of the meeting, Chief Minister Abdullah captioned, “Continuing our effort to take governance to key tourist destinations.”
Adding further, the Chief Minister said, “Held a meeting of Administrative Secretaries/HoDs at Gulmarg today, joined by my Cabinet colleagues, Advisor, and MLA Gulmarg. Reviewed readiness for Eid-ul-Azha, Mela Kheer Bhawani, Amarnath Yatra & Muharram.”
During his visit to Gulmarg, Chief Minister Abdullah also met few tourists and interacted with them.
The Pahalgam terror attack had severely affected the region’s tourism, leading to widespread fear among visitors and a sharp decline in bookings and trips.
Earlier, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah highlighted the need for coordination between three power centers – the elected government, the Central government, and the Lieutenant Governor’s office – to ensure security and law and order in the region post the Pahalgam terror attack.
He pointed out that the security of tourists currently resides within the powers of the Lieutenant Governor.
Addressing a press conference, Chief Minister Abdullah said, “The fact is that security and law and order is not the responsibility of the elected government. Whose responsibility is it? The Lieutenant Governor. There are three sets of power centres that need to coordinate to ensure that things go smoothly here. I can promote tourism; I can create infrastructure for tourism. But the security of the tourists currently resides within the powers of the Lieutenant Governor and that is the point I made that the Union Government, elected government, and Raj Bhavan, we need to work together to ensure that what happened on 22nd April doesn’t happen again.”
On Tuesday, Jammu and Kashmir government held a special Cabinet meeting in Pahalgam, more than a month after a terror attack in the Baisaran valley on April 22 that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. (ANI)
