Nabeel Kirmani

Sonmarg in shambles with no facility for tourists

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VOV exclusive report

More than two weeks have passed now Sonamarg remains nonfunctional as a tourist destination. There is nothing for the tourists as a facility and there are no efforts on the part of government especially it’s Sonmarg development authority to cater to the needs of tourists. The month of April is nearing to its end and Sonmarg has yet to come out from winter coma.

Hundreds of visitors throng this famed picnic spot on Srinagar-Ladakh National Highway in Ganderbal district during onset of summers . The tourists have to face lot of hardships and the local traders are fuming at the lethargic attitude of authorities to provide facilities to them in the area.

Both the visitors and local tourist traders including hotelier, though, happy about the clearing of road after being closed for four months for the vehicular traffic, where dismayed over the lack of basic amenities available at the resort.

“Sonamarg belies government claims about revival of tourism in Kashmir. Though opening of road is good thing but this place lacks all required basic civic amenities,” said a Hotiler.

He said the telephone connectivity in the area is dead causing much inconvenience to the traders as well as the tourists thus affecting the business as well as causing inconvenience to visitors.

A hotelier Nazir Ahmed War said that the power supply to the hotels and other accommodation should be restored in the area on priority so that the visitors don’t have to face any inconvenience.

“How can you expect tourists to come to a place which reels under darkness?” asked war. He said lack of another hotelier adding that poor civic amenities were bringing disrepute to the tourism sector here.

A tourist from Delhi said that he had heard a lot about this place, but he could not find a clean public convenience anywhere in the resort.,

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