Face to Face with Lal Singh / Govt keen to equip tourist spots with modern infra: Lal Singh

Government is keen to equip tourist spots with modern infrastructural edifice to facilitate the tourist thronging these places from across the country.
This was stated by
minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment Choudhary Lal Singh during his exclusive
interaction with the
Young Bites.
Here are the excerpts of his interaction.
Vijay Gupta
VG: Despite of being many good tourist spots, tourists failed to get any facilities there, why?
LS: This is true that we have many good tourist spots in our state. Surinsar and Mansar gardens are one of the finest tourist destinations in the state, the Government is keen to equip such spots with modern infrastructural edifice to facilitate the tourist thronging these places from across the country.
To raise the standard of these tourist spots and to attract more tourists in these posts, I have directed the wildlife department to purchase two steamers, one four-seater for Surinsar lake and other ten seater for Mansar lake, for anti-poaching activities.
I have the officers to prepare a comprehensive plan for creating more tourist facilities at Thein Dam in Basholi, Jastrota Talab in Kathua, Mansar Lake in Samba and Surinsar in Jammu so that the visiting tourists do not face any inconvenience on this account.
The State Government is committed to revive tourism industry which is essential for sustainable development of the State. He said that tourism has contributed immensely to the growth of the State; multiple beneficial aspects of domestic and international tourism have special relevance to the socio-economic development of the State.
VG: Encroachments are still a big issue, what efforts have been done by you to stop the encroachers?
LS: To stop the encroachers, I have asked the Forests department to plant ornamental and fruit trees around the areas of Thein Dam in Basholi and also demarcate the area with chain link fencing for avoiding encroachments. I have also asked the officers to construct path way along the areas of the Tein Dam for convenience of the tourists.
VG: Shrinking of wetlands in our state is a regular phenomenon, is there any plan to expand these wetlands?
LS: The government is committed to save our wetlands and in this regard, the government has earmarked Rs. 1.27 crore for conservation of wetlands of Pangong Tso and Tso Morari in Leh.
We knows well that the State’s economy would grow immensely if proper attention is paid towards available natural resources of all the three regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh in the State.
In Jammu, after industrial sector, pilgrim-tourism offers great potential that needs to be properly tapped. “Even if 10 per cent of 72 lakh visitors are encouraged to tour tourist destinations like Bhaderwah, Surinsar-Mansar and Bani-Basholi, it will spread the yarn of tourism further in the region.