STATE TIMES NEWS BASOHLI: Religious tourism has a great potential in Jammu and Kashmir and it was one of the major contributors to the Union Territory’s economy. This was stated by Col Mahan Singh, DDC Chairman Kathua while starting earth work of 500 Mtrs long link road from Nagrota-Farnot Road to the much revered Shrine of Baba Rajamandlik in Plakh Panchyat. The Shrine visualizing mesmerising Ranjit Sagar Dam Reservoir in Basohli region is visited by thousands of devotees ever year. The DDC Chairman said that religious shrines constitute rich wealth of our cultural heritage. “Jammu region has bountiful places of Gods and deities. It has a vast variety of tourist attraction places having a great potential pilgrimage as well as site seeing tourism and these places need to be exploited for the tourism,” he added. Recommending expansion of facilities for pilgrims and promoting infrastructure projects to enhance connectivity within the different regions of J&K, Col Mahan said a focused strategy and initiatives were required to fully exploit the tourism potential in the Union Territory. The DDC Chairman said that there was long standing demand of people of Basohli region for blacktopping of road uptill the revered Shrine of Baba Rajamandlik near Village Farnot. He said that the project to construct this 500 Mtr Road is under State Plan and Rs 24 Lakhs has been allocated during current financial year. The proposed road will facilitate thousands of devotees of Rajamandlik who come from different parts of the J&K and neighbouring state of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. The work is being carried out under the supervision of PWD (R&B) Division Executive Engineer, Basohli. The DDC Chairman said that BJP Government at the Centre is fully sensitive towards the issues of the people and is taking comprehensive measures for redressal of the same at the earliest. “Central Government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working with the agenda of holistic development of all the regions of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, besides putting in concerted efforts to meet the developmental aspirations of the people.” Col Mahan thanked and appreciated the commitment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi led BJP Government at the Centre and State Administration under the Lt Governor for reaching out to remotest part of the country to built durable infrastructure including much needed Road connectivity to people in isolated regions. Besides DDC Chairman, prominent residents to name Capt Harnam Singh, Hoshiar Singh, Angrez Singh, Sher Singh and others were present in large number. The DDC Chairman also visited neighboring Village of Chonke Da Laad to inspect ongoing work on Mann-Sanki link road and emphasized on the quality of work and timely completion of the project.
