U’khand to promote adventure sports

Dehradun, September 18 

Forty-eight licences have been issued to promote adventure sports in the Tehri lake and to give employment to local people, the Uttarakhand Assembly was told Tuesday. 

The Tehri Special Area Tourism Development Authority has issued these licences, state Tourism minister Satpal Maharaj told the Assembly in a written reply to a question by Dhanaulti MLA Pritam Singh Pawar.

When asked why only 48 licences were issued so far, the minister attributed it to a ban imposed by the Uttarakhand High Court on white water river rafting and other adventure sports activities in the state in June this year.

Now that the ban has been lifted, more licences will be issued to give a boost to adventure sports activities in the lake, including rafting and kayaking, he said.

The high court lifted the ban on September 12 last week on the condition that adventure sports activities like river rafting are carried out strictly in accordance with the Uttarakhand River Rafting and Kayaking Rules, 2014.

A perspective plan has also been prepared for the development of the Tehri lake and promoting it as an international tourist destination, he said. The plan drawn up through a consultant divides the lake and its surrounding areas into four thematic zones and proposes to build a modern hotel in Koti, a wellness restaurant and a yoga institute in Gorna, besides a theme and hillside restaurants in Gajana, the tourism minister said. — PTI