Prepare draft to develop Chanshal as skiing hub: CS

Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 18

Chief Secretary Shrikant Baldi today said that timely completion of the tourism projects was of utmost importance as the state government was determined to make Himachal Pradesh a favourite tourist destination of the country. He said this while he was presiding over a review meeting of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Department here today.

Baldi reviewed various tourism projects proposed in the state and said that the state had ample locations with beautiful landscapes that could be developed as tourist destinations. It was the job of the departments concerned to develop the state as a favourite destination among travellers. He directed the authorities concerned to get essential clearances at the earliest for timely completion of projects.

He also directed the authorities to prepare an integrated plan to develop Chanshal as skiing destination under ‘Nai Rahein Nai Manzilien’ scheme. Organizing Annual Bird festival to attract tourists at the Pong Dam reservoir was also proposed in the meeting. Baldi said for ease of developers, the ropeway guidelines had been amended. He directed the developers to expedite various ropeway projects in state in a time-bound manner.

The secretary also directed the authorities to identify probable locations where possibilities of adventure sports such as skiing and paragliding could be explored. In order to promote eco-tourism, he directed the authorities to explore the chances of development of eco-tourism at Bulah Kataru and development of skiing point in the surrounding areas.