MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) will soon establish an authority to exploit its rich tourism potential for the socioeconomic uplift of its people in accordance with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, a cabinet member said on Monday.

Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, regional president of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and senior minister for tourism and physical planning and housing, told Dawn that a summary envisaging the establishment of a ‘tourism authority’ would be placed before the cabinet for approval at its next session.

Following the establishment of the authority, allocation and demarcation of land for special tourism zones at district and tehsil level would be initiated, he said.

The senior minister maintained that AJK had been blessed with innumerable tourist attractions which had a potential to draw hundreds of thousands of tourists during all four seasons of the year but hardly any government in the past had realised this blessing for the greater good of the society at large.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan has a very clear vision in this regard from day one. He wants Azad Kashmir to turn tourism into a key source of income for its people, particularly those inhabiting the areas with fascinating natural beauty,” he said.

He said exploitation of the tourism sector was indispensable also because AJK lacked employment opportunities in the private sector and everyone looked towards the public sector jobs which had already reached a saturation point.

Mr Ilyas pointed out that the AJK sites were not just a feast for the eyes of nature lovers, they were also ideal for sporting activities, such as polo, paragliding, skiing and skating and river rafting.

He said he also intended to develop model tourist spots along the Neelum River in Muzaffarabad city which would add to the capital’s beauty.

“I am sure if we succeed in providing the best possible facilities, we can draw visitors not just from the length and breadth of the country but from across the globe,” he said.

The tourism authority, he said, would conceive newfangled projects in this sector and facilitate the investors from within and outside the state through a business friendly one-window operation.

Mr Ilyas, who is a real estate tycoon, said he also planned to launch state of the art projects in the urban development sector in AJK.

In this regard, he asserted that he would introduce the latest town planning and construction mechanism in AJK’s Mirpur, Muzaffarabad and Kotli divisions.

Side by side, a proper workable waste management plan would also be developed and executed, he said.

He, however, made it clear that no construction plan would affect the natural landscape and beauty of the area concerned.

He said that after assuming office he had come to know that constructions in suburban and rural areas were done without obtaining approval of construction and design techniques from any authority.

“This has been why we would see haphazard constructions in our rural areas. But we have now clamped an immediate ban on all kinds of constructions in suburban and rural areas without the prior requisite approval from the concerned authority.”

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2022