AS DECLINE in militancy paves the way for tourists in north Indian state Jammu and Kashmir, over 60 per cent hotels occupied by the security forces in Srinagar city have been evacuated.
With the improving security scenario in the city and the huge rush of tourists this year, the government directed the evacuation of these hotels and other buildings and relocated forces to other places, officials said.
“Over 60 per cent of hotels occupied by security forces have been evacuated. Almost 150 hotels and other buildings which were being held by security forces have been evacuated and there is less visibility of security forces now,” Director Tourism, Kashmir, Talat Parvez said.
The director said the evacuation is being done in a phased manner and rest of the tourism infrastructure would be evacuated by the start of next tourism season.
“The other hotels (occupied by security forces) are being evacuated in a phased manner. By next start of season, I believe, all the hotels will be free from all security occupation and they (forces) will be relocated,” Parvez said.
Majority of the hotels in Srinagar were occupied by various security agencies in the wake of militancy in the early 1990s.
The state government is reducing footprints of security forces in the city and as many as 44 bunkers have been removed from the city in last two years.
The state witnessed a huge rush of tourists this year. The officials estimate the figure to be around 12 lakh till November, which includes more than 35,000 foreign tourists.
Parvez said there is a tremendous pressure to improve the infrastructure and provide the best to tourists, who have been flocking to Kashmir in recent years.
“There has not been much improvement in tourism infrastructure in the last two decades of violence. Nothing new was created and the old infrastructure is now dilapidated.”
“Tourist flow has almost doubled which has put pressure on the infrastructure. We felt the need to have better infrastructure in place,” he said.
The director said the department started the camping-site and guest-house scheme to immediately accommodate the large number of tourists.
“We have been very liberal in granting incentives and asking people to convert their houses into guest-houses. We do not ask for many formalities and we allow them to run their business.” he said.
