MANSEHRA, June 5: Tourists from across the country happily come to enjoy the natural beauty of Kaghan valley, but owing to destroyed roads and other problems a large number of tourists cannot travel to the valley.

The revival of tourism has been a challenge for the government following the October 2005 devastated the tourism industry in the region.

Last summer, a large number of tourists from across the country visited the valley before the floods hit the country. However, the floods further aggravated the situation and had that not happened the tourism business was likely to peak once again.

The valley, known worldwide for its serene lakes, green mountains, gushing rivers, hospitable people and pleasant weather, is still suffering the brunt of the 2010 floods as the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad, Naran-Saiful Muluk and other link roads, which were washed away or partly destroyed, could not be rebuilt completely. As a result, the tourists are suffering while travelling on uncarpeted and destroyed patches on way to the valley.

This correspondent travelled to the valley and witnessed that the deteriorating road condition and patches between Mansehra and Naran added to the worries of tourists. Moreover, link roads from Naran to Lake Saiful Muluk, Kawai to Shogran, Siri Paiy, Anso Lake, Lake Lulu Sur, Lake Dodee Pat Sar are considered to be death traps, and most of the tourists avoid going beyond Naran.

The tourism industry of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which was once considered the main part of the country's tourism sector, suffered a lot because of insurgency, earthquake and floods.

According to the KP government's document due to the ongoing insurgency and earthquake the provincial tourism industry had been suffering a $50 million annual loss and during the last nine years the province suffered a loss of $450 million.

The document says that the tourism industry of Kaghan used to earn $18 million annually, which squeezed to a mere $1 million following the October 2005 earthquake.

“It is a paradise on the earth and none of the tourism spots in the country could be compared with the natural beauty of Kaghan valley, but the roads are restricting the tourists to visit this scenic valley,” said a tourist.

For the revival of the sector, the Tourism Promotion Association of Kaghan valley has demanded exemption from taxes and reconstruction of roads.

Seith Matiullah and Zahoor Awan, the president and secretary general of the association, have demanded of the government to exempt the tourism industry of the valley from all sorts of taxes at least for 10 years.