Promotion of heritage tourism, Govt’s prime concern: Bhalla JHS submits memorandum to Minister JAMMU, AUGUST 30-The Jammu Heritage Society (JHS) on Friday organized a grand function to celebrate completion of three years of its services for the cause of heritage, culture and art of Jammu province in particular and J&K state in general. Minister for Housing, Horticulture and Culture Raman Bhalla was the Chief Guest while Divisional Commissioner Shantmanu presided over the function. Besides, Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Ajit Kumar Sahu and Director Tourism Jammu Soujanya Sharma, were the guests of honour. Addressing the gathering, Bhalla said that promotion of heritage tourism in the State is Govt’s prime concern and Government is making efforts to restore the pristine glory of all the historical sites. He said Government has identified 29 historical sites of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions for preservation and conservation. For this purpose, stress is being laid on restoration of all heritage sites of the state to their original form by adopting scientific methods and involvement of highly skilled and expert man power. The Minister said that the detailed project report for their renovation has been prepared by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and submitted to Central government for funding. Responding to demand of the Society for restoration of Bahu Fort’s damaged wall, the Minister said instructions have been issued to Jammu Development Authority to immediately start the project so that further damage could be stopped. Regarding the demand of the society for illumination of the Bahu Fort, the Minister said Government has released 80 lakh for illumination of Maha Kali temple and repair of fountain within the premises of Bawe-wali mata. He informed every year about 1.25 crore pilgrims and tourists visit the State to pay obeisance in Shri Mata Vashino Devi ji, Shri Budha Amarnathji, Shri Amarnathji and also in other shrines of the State who also pay obeisance at Bawe-Wali Mata. Bhalla said that all the three regions are receiving equal attention and several major development initiatives were taken and some are in pipe line for development of tourism in Jammu Division including several Tourism Centres, Golf courses, cable car projects, Mubarak Mandi, Culture Heritage centre, Border Tourism, development of lakes including artificial lake on Tawi river, face lifting of Bahu Fort and many more projects. President Jammu Heritage Society, Baldev Khullar hailed the Minister for his contributions in preserving the cultural, political, architectural and spiritual heritage of Jammu and Kashmir. He requested him to look into the demands presented by the society for an early redressal. He also praised him for taking keen interest in overall development of J&K in general and Jammu in particular. He further requested the Minister to lay special emphasis on development of Shree Raghunath Ji Mandir which symbolizes spiritual and cultural heritage of Dogra rulers. General Secretary Jammu Heritage Society, Bhuvneshwar Gandotra, presented a detailed memorandum to the Minister stressing on the need to preserve, popularize and promote the rich Dogra cultural heritage. He also urged upon the Minister to give focused attention on preservation of historical forts of Jammu, religious places besides promotion of border tourism. The memorandum also included installation of spotting scopes within the fort for better view beside development of bowlies and illumination of Bahu Fort. The Divisional Commissioner Jammu, while addressing the gathering, said that a coordination committee shall be formed to implement the directions of the Minister and members of the Jammu Heritage Society shall be made members of the coordination committee. Director Tourism, Soujana Sharma, while responding to the demands of Jammu Heritage Society, announced 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes of Rs. 10000/-, 7500/- and 5000/- respectively for heritage buildings to be illuminated during celebrations of heritage week. He assured the society that old photographs of cultural and heritage importance will be preserved for the posterity. He also assured better projection of heritage sites through the medium of tourism department. Representatives of Jammu Heritage Society present included Vice Chairman K L Bhalla, Vice Presidents Ashwani Arora and Ajesh Rohmetra, Secretary, Sanjeev Kalra, Member Executive, Nariender Sharma and renowned artists of Jammu Jeevan Sharma, Sham Sajan, Kamal Sharma, Vijay Atri, artists and sculpturist Ravinder Singh Jamwal, Suman Gupta, Vijay Anand, Yudhvir Sethi besides members of civil society, leading businessmen and industrialists were present on the occasion.
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 14:42:07 +0000