Admn seeks land to develop tourism in Pong Dam area

Dharamsala, June 20

The district administration of Kangra has directed the Revenue Department to provide land for developing tourism in the Pong Dam area under the Centrally sponsored ‘Swadesh Darshan-2’scheme.

Under the chairmanship of Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Saurabh Jassal, a review meeting of the scheme was held in the mini-secretariat.

The ADC said the state government has expressed its commitment to develop Kangra district as the tourism capital of the state. Special efforts were being made by the government and the district administration to promote tourism activities in the Pong Dam area, he added.

The ADC added that the Pong Dam area mainly includes the areas of Nagrota Surian, Fatehpur, Nangal Chowk and Mathiyal, which have their own scenic beauty and efforts would be made to set up tourism activities in these areas. In the meeting, every aspect related to the development of the area was discussed with the officials of Voyants Solutions Pvt Ltd, a private consultancy firm working to develop the area under Swadesh Darshan 2.0.

The ADC took a detailed account of company’s plan and shared practical suggestions related to the development of the area with them. He said in accordance with the activities developed in the area, there was also a need to work on capacity-building and skill development of the local youth.

He said development should also strengthen the economy of locals. On this occasion, officials of various departments, including Deputy Director of Tourism Department Vinay Dhiman, were present.

The announcement of the district administration to develop tourism in the Pong Dam area when was criticised by the BJP.

State spokesperson of the BJP, Sanjay Sharma, said the announcements regarding the development of the Pong Dam area, when the Dehra bypoll is round the corner, amounted to the violation of the election code.

It’s violation of poll rules: BJP

The announcements regarding development of the Pong Dam area, when the Dehra bypoll is round the corner, amounted to the violation of the model code of conduct. — Sanjay Sharma, BJP spokesperson