Kupwara, Jul 01: With the increasing footfall of tourists amid pleasant weather conditions, frontier district Kupwara has received close to 7,000 tourists in the previous month, while the annual figure is expected to be record-breaking this year.
North Kashmir Kupwara district, is a remote place covered by lush green forests and meadows. The district has a lot of tourism potential, mainly border and religious tourism.
Since the fresh ceasefire pact between India and Pakistan armies back in February 2021, peace has returned to the borders of the district. Kupwara shares its border with neighboring Pakistan.
With peace at the borders, the window to border tourism has opened ample opportunities with guns falling silent.
As per the figures, last year close to three lakh tourists visited Kupwara district. This figure marked a record number of arrivals resulting in forcing the authorities to gear up to offer much more to attract tourists to the district.
To further give a push to the tourism potential of the district keeping in view the environmental conditions, Lolab Bungus Drangyari Development Authority (LBDDA) was formed. The motive was to work on exploring the tourism potential of the district.
Talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) a senior official said that close to seven thousand tourists have already visited the Kupwara district in the month of June. “The figure includes J&K residents, from other states of India and even foreign as well.”
The official said that the figure is expected to continue to show a hike in numbers in days to come.
The official informed that last year close to three lakh tourists visited Kupwara. “This year looking at the response and interest of tourists, Kupwara will alone receive a record-breaking number of tourists.”
Tourists, the official said, require permissions and other mandatory formalities which are being timely facilitated.
The official said that not only locals but a huge number of tourists from parts of the country prefer the offbeat destinations Kupwara offers. “Tourists from different states and even foreigners are visiting places like Teethwal, Keran, Lolab, Bungus, and Machil. They prefer offbeat destinations and these places offer a lot to them,” the official said.
The official also said that there are proper guidelines for everyone visiting this district without making them worry about anything.
The official further said that tent facilities are available at Keran and Bungus. “Homestay facilities are available at Drangyari, Teethwal, Keran, and Machil. We are encouraging more to come forward to earn their livelihood genuinely. Those offering these facilities are properly guided about how to deal with the guests to make them come again,” the official said.
An official of LBDDA also said that events like trekking and others are also happening.
A forest department official said that several parks have been developed in the forest land to attract more visitors to the district.
The official said that trekking routes are also being developed.
Last year the administration also installed about 70 tents in Bungus Valley offering tourists a night stay. Following this adventure, tourism activities began at Drangyari, a place in the lap of Bungus.
Notably, the tourist footfall started to increase only after the guns at the Line of Control (LoC) fell silent. Earlier no-go zones are now hosting tourists in huge numbers thus giving the local population ample opportunity to earn their livelihood from tourism activities.
It may be recalled that this is the result of peace at the borders. However, in the previous month a total of nine infiltrators were killed in three different operations close to LoC in joint operations in the Kupwara district—(KNO)
