Tourism dept to develop river front resort on 250 kanals in Kathua

Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 21

The Tourism Department will develop a “river front resort” on the unutilised 250 kanals of land facing the Ravi in Kathua district to harness the tourism potential and attract tourists from neighbouring states.

Besides, the state-of-the-art multi-facility, “Traveller Mart”, would be ready for the comfort of tourists at Lakhanpur by the end of next month.

This was disclosed by the Secretary, Tourism and Floriculture, Farooq A Shah, during his extensive visit to Kathua to inspect the ongoing works. He was accompanied by the Director, Tourism, Jammu, Sushma Chauhan, Deputy Commissioner, Kathua, Ramesh Kumar, and other senior Tourism Department officials.

Shah also inspected the ongoing work of Traveller Mart and a budget accommodation complex at Lakhanpur and it was disclosed that it would be completed and ready for operations in the end of February.

Travellers Mart has all facilities for the comfort of tourists and other travellers entering the state through the gateway to the state in Lakhanpur. It has an art gallery, which would display the famous Basohli paintings and handicrafts, which can be displayed in the kiosks as well.

“The secretary also had an on-the-spot review to harness the potential of turning the unutilised 250 kanal facing the Ravi into a major tourist attraction in the state by developing it into a river front resort for which the secretary instructed the officials to make a master plan at the earliest so that the work in this direction can be started at the earliest,” the official spokesperson said.

He also directed the officials to prepare a complete detailed project report (DPR) for the beautification and landscaping of the area to make it a tourism attraction.

He said, “It will be an addition to fulfilling the dream of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for making Jammu as an independent tourism destination. The resort will come up on modern lines with a children park, ice-ring and other tourist facilities.”

Shah also visited the Basholi area and asked the officials to promote the area for diverting a larger chunk of Himachal-bound tourists to erstwhile Doda district (Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts).

The Secretary also asked the officials to explore the possibility of water sports on the waters of the Ranjit Sagar Dam.