Srinagar, Jan 11: While the Department of Tourism in Valley works hard to promote tourism in order to draw more visitors from across the world, they fall short in offering Sonamarg visitors access to heating facilities.
Many local visitors told Rising Kashmir that they travelled to Sonamarg after learning more about the location. When they arrived at the destination, they attempted to reserve a tourism huts but were informed that there was no heating system in place and that the taps were frozen.
When Rising Kashmir contacted Sarmand Hafeez, commissioner and secretary of tourism,
that the department is planning to provide heating systems in several locations that have opened for the first time this winter. Within a few days, the Sonamarg, he claimed, will be winterised.
Mudasir Rashid, a Srinagar tourist, recalled how “a few days back, he along with some friends planned a trip to Sonamarg and while arriving at the place in the evening, they sought to stay in tourism huts.” They had to go home, though, because the department hadn’t set up any facilities.
Rashid said they faced numerous problems while returning from the spot because it was too cold. He went on to say that they only planned to visit this location after learning that it had been winterized by the department, but their claims were not existing on the ground.
If the tourism department opens any location to tourists, they should provide all basic amenities. If the same thing happens to tourists, what message it will send to other tourists?
Sources in the tourism department told Rising Kashmir that “the department has also written to senior officials of the department for the installation of heating gadgets in tourism huts, but these were the responses from the top officials.”
It is simple to announce the opening of winter tourist destinations, but providing facilities at these locations requires government attention, according to Aijaz Ahmad, who was flanked by Mudasir.
The hoteliers in major winter destinations also lack proper heating arrangements, and most of the hoteliers in Pahalgam, Sonamarg, and Gulmarg use firewood for heating while charging people exorbitantly.
These hoteliers are charging tourists according to their will, and the tourism department should also curb the higher rates in hotels.
