High time to protect environment for tourism promotion: J-K

Correlating tourism with environment conservation, Jammu and Kashmir minister Choudhary Lal Singh said it was "high time" to protect water bodies, forests, endangered wildlife species and biophysical environment in the state which are the main attraction for tourists.
Kick-starting macadamisation work on the Lakhanpur- Vijaypur stretch of the Jammu-Pathankote National Highway yesterday, he said the state has huge tourism potential and to attract more tourists quality road network is essential.
The macadamisation work on the 62 km stretch from Lakhanpur to Vijaypur will be executed by the NHAI at an estimated cost of Rs 42 crore and is expected to be completed in six months.

"It improve connectivity, make the journey hassle free and less time consuming," Singh said at Kathua, adding works with a corpus of Rs 400 crore have been taken up under PMGSY and CRF to strengthen the road network in the district.
"The forest department is playing a vital role in environment conservation by launching plantation drives, minimising man-animal conflict, putting restraints on activities that cause environmental degradation, creating awareness and protecting wildlife so that tourism gets a fillip," the forest minister said.
Regarding encroachment and other illegal activities on forest land, Singh said 1,25,000 Kanals of land has been retrieved and the government would leave no stone unturned in securing the forests.

Highlighting the tourism potential of Ranjit Sagar Dam in Basohli, he said a state of the art amusement park, water sports activities and steamers to ferry tourists are a few of the facilities that will commence soon to bring Basohli on the tourist map of the country.
The minister said promotion of tourism around the dam would not only benefit Jammu and Kashmir, but also Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.