Pulwama, Mar 12: The Tourism Department intends infrastructure development at Dubjan and Peer Ki Gali, twin tourist destinations along historic Mughal road, in South Kashmir’s Shopian district.
However, the plan faces obstacles as construction in these areas is currently prohibit-ed due to their classification under the Forest and Wildlife Department’s jurisdiction.
The Minister Incharge provided this information in the Legislative Assembly in re-sponse to a starred question raised by MLA Shopian, Shabir Ahmad Kullay.
He clarified that the Dubjan-Peer Ki Gali Development Authority was formally estab-lished in 2017, not 2015, as per Government Order No. 78-TSM of 2017, dated 03.03.2017.
He also stated that efforts are underway to rationalize staff postings for the authority.
It was said that the department has constructed four single-bedroom huts at Borihallan, Shopian, under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme, at a sanctioned cost of ₹166.12 lakh.
Furthermore, various tourism-related projects worth ₹466.51 lakh have been developed in Shopian under the same scheme.
The minister informed the House that, under the CAPEX budget, the department has successfully completed 12 projects worth ₹261.00 lakh and initiated eight new projects valued at ₹84.00 lakh for the 2024-25 financial year.
However, he said that plans to construct tourist huts at Dubjan and Peer Ki Gali face hurdles, as the area falls under the jurisdiction of the Forest and Wildlife Department, where construction is currently prohibited.
“However, in order to develop infrastructure at Peer-kiGali, the Department has taken up work ‘Construction of Cafeteria and Public Convenience on the way to Peer-ki-Gali at Hirpora’ with a project cost of Rs. 35.00 lakh under State Capex Budget 2024-25.
The identification and transfer of land for construction of the said facility is under pro-cess,” the minister incharge informed.
