A new road opens Valley of Flowers to tourists in Jammu
Spread across 11 kms, this vast meadow at the higher reaches of Kailash range was so far accessible to either the nomads — Gujjars and Bakerwals had been trekking there along with livestock with the onset of summer — or the teams of botanists from the Institute of Mountaineering and Environment at Bhaderwah.
To woo tourists, the J&K Tourism Department in collaboration with the Doda district administration, Jammu Tourism department and Educational Environmental Social Sports and Cultural Society of Bhalessa is organising a festival at Bhal Padri, which is situated at an altitude of 11,000 ft in Gandoh sub division, on July 20.
Surrounded by dense forest of pine, fir and the betula utilis (Himalayan birch, or Bhojpatra) trees, Bhal Padri, locally called the 'Valley of Flowers', is connected by road from Padri, a tourist destination in Bhaderwah sub division on the interstate Bhaderwah-Chamba road, situated at an altitude of 10,000 ft.
Bal Padri in Gandoh sub division is the second longest valley on the higher reaches of Pir Panjal after 30-km-long Seoj Dhar, which starts from Doda district's Bhaderwah sub division and goes up to Basantgarh in Udhampur district.
Doda Deputy Commissioner Harvinder Singh visited Bal Padri last week to review security measures following the reopening of the area for tourists two months after the Pahalgam terror attack in which 25 tourists and a local ponywala were killed by terrorists from Pakistan.
According to Singh, the road from Padri to Bal Padri in Gandoh sub division has been completed and only its blacktopping has been left. The nearest village to the tourist spot is Thanala – a 100 per cent tribal village. Officials said that the blacktopping work will be taken up after August 15 when the monsoon season ends. Officials said that work on another 7 km road has also been taken up to connect Bal Padri with Gandoh.
The tourism department has constructed rooms along with a restaurant at Padri. To promote the area as a skiing destination, the department has also laid a cable for chair cars there, the Doda Deputy Commissioner said, adding that inauguration of the facilities will be done soon.
The Central government, in a major boost to rural connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir, has sanctioned the biggest ever package of Rs 4,224 crore for construction of 316 new roads connecting 390 habitations with a population of more than 250 people each.
Significantly, a maximum number of 223 roads have been sanctioned in the Jammu region, especially the districts from where reports of terrorist movement have reported, sources said.
While 41 new roads have been sanctioned in border Rajouri district, followed by adjoining border Poonch district (40) and Doda (31). The Ramban district has 26 roads, followed by Reasi (21), Udhampur and Kishtwar (20 each), Kathua (15), Jammu (6) and Samba (3).
With a total length of 1,781 km, all the 316 roads have to be completed within a period of five years, sources said.
Describing it as the biggest ever package to J&K under the PMGSY, officials said that these roads will boost socio-economic development and transformation of the rural areas. These will bring the existing educational, health and other government infrastructure closer to these habitations.
Apart from benefiting the local populace, the improved road connectivity will also help security forces in carrying out anti-insurgency operations.
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