The shelving of the much-publicised Water Theme Park project in Jammu is yet another reminder of how successive Governments have failed to translate lofty announcements into ground reality. Once projected as a game-changer capable of transforming Jammu into a year-round leisure destination, the project has now collapsed under the weight of avoidable planning blunders and administrative negligence. What makes this failure even more glaring is that it is not the first time the water theme park has been conceived. During the PDP-BJP Government, too, the project was floated under the PPP mode, but collapsed after the Forest Department raised objections regarding the approach road. Those very objections have resurfaced today, proving how authorities wilfully ignored earlier red flags and lured the public into yet another cycle of grand promises and crushed hopes. This is not an isolated case. Jammu’s tourism landscape is littered with half-baked or abandoned ventures-the Artificial Lake remains incomplete, Mubarak Mandi’s restoration is stuck in limbo, and even basic projects drag on endlessly. The recurring pattern is depressingly familiar: announcements with fanfare, delays over land or clearances, and eventual abandonment. The message this sends is one of chronic indecisiveness and lack of seriousness when it comes to Jammu-centric projects.
The irony is unmistakable. On the other side of the road, projects like Jammu Zoo, IIM and IIT secured forest clearances and progressed. Why then is the Water Theme Park being denied similar treatment? Either the Forest Department adopts inconsistent standards, or the Government lacks the will to resolve bottlenecks in time. Viable alternatives must be explored-a common entry through the Golf Course or a structured approach to secure necessary clearances. The question is whether there is political will to explore them. The urgency cannot be overstated. With the express highway to Srinagar operational and trains reaching Katra and Kashmir, Jammu’s role as a tourist stopover is already under threat. Without robust and unique tourism infrastructure, the city risks being bypassed altogether. Jammu’s tourism cannot afford endless delays, nor can it survive on announcements alone. Unless lessons are learnt from repeated failures, Jammu will remain trapped in a cycle of unfulfilled dreams while its tourism potential slips further into irrelevance.
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