Srinagar:
On April 22, Pakistani terrorists attacked a popular tourist site in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, hoping to deal a twin blow by making visitors believe the Union Territory is unsafe and hurting its economy, which is dependent on tourism. Two months later, it is clear that they failed.
As many as 16 tourist sites were reopened in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday and many of them have already begun seeing an influx of tourists. Eight spots in the Kashmir Valley and an equal number in Jammu have been reopened, including the picturesque Betaab Valley, Verinag, Kokernag and the Mughal gardens in Achabal.
NDTV visited the Betaab Valley – named after the film starring Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh which was shot there in the 1980s – and spoke to workers and tourists, who said they are happy that normalcy is being restored.
“I work on the ticketing side. The park was shut all this while, and our work also took a hit. I am happy it is being reopened and tourists will be back,” a worker said on Tuesday morning.
A tourist from Haryana who was visiting the Betaab Valley said, “We came to Jammu and Kashmir about a week ago. Yes, this spot was shut, but we were exploring other places in the Union Territory, including Srinagar, Sonmarg and Gulmarg. This is our first visit to Jammu and Kashmir.”
NDTV also tried zipline cycling in the Betaab Valley, a sought-after activity which involves riding a specially designed bicycle along two cables suspended in the air.
Restoring Confidence
On Saturday, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had announced that the approximately four dozen sites that had been shut in the Union Territory after the Pahalgam terrorist attack would be reopened in a phased manner from Tuesday.
The attack, in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed, had hit the tourism sector in the Kashmir valley and impacted religious pilgrimage at the Ma Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu as well.
Since then, the J&K government has been making efforts to revive tourism and restore the confidence of tourists. Last month, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah held a cabinet meeting in Pahalgam and visited tourist places, including the Betaab Valley.
The inauguration of the Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat Express by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also provided a major boost to tourism by connecting Kashmir to the rest of the country via a railway link for the first time. Tickets are sold out for the next few days, with tourists queuing up for the opportunity to travel on the Chenab bridge, which is the highest railway bridge in the world.
