“We had almost reached the stage of signing (of agreement) vis-à-vis multi-lateral funding. But then we encountered an obstacle which we could not sort out. Now after consultations with the Government of India, nine new tourist destinations will be opened under a centrally-funded scheme. The names of these nine new destinations too would be released in the due course of time. Even Jammu people would have no complaints about these destinations as they too would get their due share. Seven lakes, as mentioned by a member, too would figure in the list of these destinations,” CM Omar mentioned.

Calling tourism a vital sector, the Chief Minister said the government successfully revived the tourism industry, despite difficult circumstances following the tragic Pahalgam incident.

Referring to the dig taken by the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Sunil Sharma vis-à-vis his (CM’s) visits outside J&K for tourism promotion, he said, “Only I know how we managed to revitalise this crucial tourism industry, step by step, by visiting different places and cajoling industry players (outside J&K), tourists. Those associated with the tourist industries can tell how distraught they were about the prospects of tourism revival in J&K for the next 2-3 years after the unfortunate terror incident of Baisaran.”

“Today, Gulmarg hotels are full. Sonamarg hotels are full. If the LoP still feels that our tourism promotion visits were simply excursions, I can do nothing. We revived tourism when our major tourist destinations were closed. We had to hard convince the tourists during our tourism promotion visits outside J&K to come and enjoy the splendour of Kashmir. We had to tell them that they could not visit major destinations. Despite all these hitches, we managed to revive tourism,” the Chief Minister remarked.

He also spoke about projects like the Jammu Riverfront, envisioning its development similar to Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Riverfront. He revealed that under SASCI or some other project, the riverfront would be developed and expanded till its end.

CM Omar emphasised the need to expand tourism into remote areas where industrial scope was limited, particularly in Jammu, which already attracted over one crore pilgrims annually to Mata Vaishnodevi.

“If we can retain even 10 percent of these tourists for 6-7 days, it can transform Jammu’s economy,” the Chief Minister said.

He also highlighted new initiatives expanding the tourism season in Kashmir such as Baag-e-Gul-e-Dawood (Chrysanthemum Garden), which drew large crowds this year.

He pointed out that it was not difficult to bring tourists to J&K but the success of the tourism industry would be if they could ensure “repeat tourism.”

FOCUS ON IMPROVEMENT, ENHANCING GENERATION CAPACITY IN POWER SECTOR

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah termed power both a challenge and an opportunity, noting that J&K consumed more electricity than it generated and it could not realise revenue to the extent of its consumption.

He said, “J&K has an 18,000 MW power potential, of which only 3,000-3,500 MW has been developed. Our intention is that in the next 2-3 years, we will add another 3,000-3,500 MW.”

The Chief Minister shared that his government in collaboration with the Government of India would prepare DPRs and projects to realise its long-term goal of developing the remaining 11,000 MW over the next 10-15 years.

“Then J&K will be able to supply power to the entire India during crucial months of summer. Till then we will have to improve our generation capacity and system of distribution,” he said.

He assured full implementation of the RDSS scheme, which he said was being monitored by him regularly, to improve distribution infrastructure.

Calling for regular paying of electricity bills, he pointed towards disparity in declared load and actual load. “We will look into it, also to detect the connivance of the department to infuse transparency. That is why we are emphasising on metering,” he explained.

Referring to the apprehension of Tarigami regarding the privatisation of DISCOMs, the Chief Minister reiterated, “I need to tell him and the entire House that we have no intention of privatising power distribution companies. Hardly they have been corporatised so there is no question of privatising them. We will have to rectify their accounting, budgeting; enhance their grant-in-aid to improve their financial condition and that we will do.”

ACTION AGAINST LANDGRABBERS

On the question of encroachments raised by many members, the Chief Minister said that no MLA would object to action against such acts (encroachments).

“BJP MLA Sham Lal Sharma is right in saying that the bulldozing (demolition) act should not start from the poor while rich and influential managed to escape. The department will act upon his suggestion. So I assure the House, wherever we have to act against encroachments, first of all, we will target those big fish, big sharks – landgrabbers, who either join some political party or hide behind a political leader or resort to other tactics to escape act against them,” he reaffirmed.

“First of all, action would be taken against them (big sharks) and then if needed, action would be taken against others. Drives will not begin with the poor, this I want to assure the House,” the Chief Minister announced.

Regarding solid waste management, he said that legacy waste was a serious issue across cities and addressing it would bring major benefits. In this connection he also referred to the suggestion of NC MLA Tanvir Sadiq to use legacy waster in cement industries.

The Chief Minister announced that 2-3 major vertical housing projects would be launched in Jammu and Srinagar this year, with special focus on Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).