KARGIL, MAY 03, 2021: Secretary Tourism, Culture, Labour and Employment Ladakh Mehboob Ali Khan called on the Chairman and Chief Executive Councillor, LAHDC, Kargil Feroz Ahmad Khan at the Council Secretariat Kargil here today and discussed various issues related to the development of tourism, culture, labour and employment sectors.

Executive Councillor for Social Welfare Aga Syed Hassan Arman Mosavi, Executive Councillor for Works Mubarak Shah Nagvi, Executive Councillor for Tourism Er Phunsog Tashi, Executive Councillor for Agriculture Muhammad Ali Chandan, Chief Executive Officer, Kargil Development Authority (KDA), Ghulam Mohiuddin Wani, AD Tourism Aga Syed Taha, Special Officer for Cultural Activities Kargil Muhammad Ali Tak besides other concerned officers attended the meeting.

CEC Kargil Feroz Ahmad Khan on behalf of the LAHDC, Kargil extended warm welcome and congratulated the Secretary for assuming the charge of different departments in Ladakh UT and expressed hope that activities under Tourism, Culture, Labor and Employment will get a new fillip under his able leadership.

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The CEC maintained that Tourism sector has immense potential to be one of the major sources of economy in Kargil district and in order to ensure sustainable tourism, concrete measures are needed to be taken including the development of infrastructure in remote areas, development of heritage sites and promotion of winter tourism.

Underlining the measures being taken by the UT Administration for development of tourism sector in Kargil, the Secretary Tourism informed the CEC and ECs that while efforts are being made to complete the ongoing works in a time bound manner, the budget under State Sector and SDP for the current financial year has almost been finalized.

Secretary Mehboob Ali Khan informed the CEC that in order to ensure the holding of various conferences, seminars, cultural activities and other important events and activities, Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor Ladakh R K Mathur is very keen to establish a state of the art convention center in Kargil district and work on the project will be kick started soon in near future once land is made available at a suitable location. He urged the CEC, Kargil to allot land for the project in around 5 to 10 kilometers proximity of the district headquarters. 

Highlighting the initiatives of the UT Administration for promotion of winter tourism in the district, the Secretary informed the CEC and the ECs that to provide hassle free air services to travellers and tourists visiting the district during winter months, a plan to start scheduled helicopter service from Srinagar, Jammu and Leh is in the pipeline which is expected to be operationalized during the coming winter season.  

He said that to give impetus to adventure tourism, funds have been allocated for development of the Linkipal Slopes while sites like Sapi Lake and river water reserve at Trespone Valley Resort near NHPC Dam are also being developed for different winter as well as summer sports like ice skating, rafting etc.

The Secretary further said tourist facilitation centres with all requisite facilities will be developed at different entry points like Zojila/Drass and Upshi, adding he urged the CEC to allot 100 kanals of land for establishment of this facility near Zojila.

 He further said that in order to attract maximum number of tourists to Kargil district in future, concrete measures are being taken to approve more trekking routes while sites for starting wildlife safaris are also being identified in consultation with the Wildlife Department.

As regards to other measures being taken by the UT Administration for promotion of tourism, the Secretary said that to promote astro-tourism different locations for star gazing are being established while as a comprehensive plan for development of the heritage sites is being worked out in consultation with Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

The Secretary also apprised the CEC Kargil about several other matters including the construction of a library building in Kargil and plans to construct libraries in all Panchayats, adding he said that digitally available materials on various competitive exams are also being made available for the facility of the student community.

Various issues related to culture, labor and employment departments also came up for discussion during the meeting. 

Meanwhile, the CEC urged the Secretary expedite  pace of the ongoing works in Tourism sector under the State Budget and SDP besides also ensuring timely accord of approval in case of new projects so that work on their execution can be started at the earliest.