Credit: Source : Reported Shakeel Ahmad Bandipora Bureau J&K
Day long ‘Wular Festival’ held at Bandipora
Bandipora, November 16: With an aim to promote lesser known tourist destinations across Kashmir, The Department of Tourism in Collaboration with District Administration Bandipora on Saturday organised the Wullar Festival at Wullar Vantage Park on Tuesday.
Commissioner Secretary Tourism Sarmad Hafeez, Director Tourism Dr GN Itoo, DC Bandipora Dr Owais Ahmad, DDC Chairperson Abdul Gani Bhat, Vice-Chairperson Kounsar Shafeeq, Superintendent of Police Mohammad Zahid, Joint Director Planning Imtiyaz Ahmad and other senior officers of the district were present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion Commissioner Secretary Tourism said the aim of the festival was to bring tourism potential of Bandipora especially Wullar lake to the limelight. He said that the Tourism Department has identified 75 places across J&K UT which have not been exploited for tourism potential yet adding that Wullar lake is also in those places which have not been explored yet.
Commissioner Secretary Tourism said the festival provides an opportunity to the local population to get to know about the tourism potential there area have. He said they have also invited tour and travel operators who will get to know about the beauty and potential of the place that they can offer to the tourist.
Director Tourism GN Itoo said the tourist in contemporary times doesn’t want only sightseeing but want range of activities along with sightseeing including adventure, sports etc. He said Wullar lake, in particular, has everything to offer for tourists of all types be it site seeing, adventure tourism, Sports tourism or bird watching etc. He said the Lieutenant Governor’s administration is keen to bring the Valley on the international tourist map and called for improving tourism infrastructure in un explored areas of the UT while taking care of its flora and fauna.
Deputy Commissioner, Bandipora, Dr Owais Ahmad hoped that the festival will go a long way in promotion of tourism potential of the Bandipora district.
He said that efforts are being made to highlight the potential of tourism in Bandipora district and various projects are in the pipeline that will give flip to the tourism sector in the district. He invited the people to visit Bandipora this summer to have a variety of attractions including Wullar, Gurez, Authwatto besides other scenic beauties and avenues for adventure tourism.
He said the district has many tourist spots viz Tragbal, Wullar Lake, Sheerasar, Hapatnar, Tulail, Sirender, Athwatoo, Buthoo, and Krisilpati. Besides the shortest trekking route to mount Harmukh.
While informing about Wullar Conservation Project, Dr Owais informed that the Wullar Dredging Project is being completed at the cost of Rs 200.00 Crores and the work is in progress at full pace and more than 3 kilometers have been restored so far against the target of 4.35 sq kilometers till December 2021. Officials said 99 thousand willows have been extracted and auctioned realizing a revenue of Rs 19.47 Crores.
Earlier Several Government Departments including the Department of Handicrafts, Handloom, NRLM, Fisheries, Forests, Agriculture, Horticulture, WUCMA and Tourism had installed stalls to showcase local products. The stalls attracted a large number of people who not only purchased several products but were also informed about the rich tourism potential of Ramsar site Wullar Lake.
The dignitaries visited all the stalls and interacted with the resource persons attending the stalls. An interaction with Young Wullar Mitras was also held on the occasion who act as guardians of the lake and work to sensitize the local population about the need to preserve the lake. A special arrangement of Bird watching was also made by the Forest Department and WUCMA that attracted a large gathering of people.
Earlier, Additional District Development Commissioner Bandipora Ali Afsar Khan flagged off a boat rally in which the local boys from fishermen community participated. The winners were awarded by the dignitaries while a bike rally was also inaugurated from SK Stadium Bandipora to Wullar Vantage Park.
The day-long Wullar Festival saw a participation of large number of people who got enthralled by the attractive and fascinating varied cultural programmes presented by famous singers, bands and solo performers besides other cultural groups. A painting competition was also organised during the day in which students from various schools participated.
