CEC, LAHDC, Kargil & Secretary(Tourism), UT of Ladakh Co-chair meeting on Swadesh Darshan 2.0 Scheme for Kargil town at Council Secretariat, Kargil

CEC, LAHDC, Kargil & Secretary(Tourism), UT of Ladakh Co-chair

Meeting on Swadesh Darshan 2.0 Scheme for Kargil town at Council Secretariat, Kargil

Kargil, May 26, 2023: Chairman/CEC, LAHDC, Kargil, Feroz Ahmed Khan along with Administrative Secretary, Tourism and Culture, Ladakh, Kacho Mehboob Ali Khan, today chaired a meeting to discuss about Swadesh Darshan 2.0 Scheme for Kargil town here at Council Secretariat.

While briefing about the Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme, the Secretary (Tourism) informed that under Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India Kargil and Leh towns have been approved for development as major tourist destinations in the UT of Ladakh. The department of Tourism, UT of Ladakh has completed all the modalities and the MoT in consultation with the Tourism department, UT of Ladakh has completed the process of selection of ‘Project Consultant’ for the UT of Ladakh. The Secretary pointed out that the scheme has a very tight time schedule and hence a coordinated and well planned methodology is required to identify critical tourism related infrastructure, preparation of master-plan and preparation of DPR. The Secretary requested the Hon’ble CEC and the Hon’ble ECs present in the meeting, The State Mission Director and the Destination Management Committee Chairman and its Members and more importantly the tourism related stakeholders (AKTTA for Kargil) to contribute in planning long-term beneficial creation of assets/amenities in & around (close-vicinity) of Kargil Town. The projected limit of the projects under this scheme would be around Rs. 70 cr, which will be fully funded by the MoT, Government of India.

Detailed discussion on various aspects of the scheme was held. Hon’ble CEC, LAHDC, Kargil in his remarks spoke about the constraint of parking and space in the town and also about developing Hundurman-LOC and Sangam near Kargil town. Hon’ble ECs, DC/CEO, LAHDC, SSP, AKTTA Members and the DMC Members also contributed through their views & comments about making this scheme a success. Summing up the discussion the Hon’ble CEC and Secretary (Tourism) emphasised on the following points:-

(i) Identification of location and products

(ii) Making available space for the planned projects

(iii) Coordination amongst the State Mission Director; Destination Management Committee; Project Consultants; The LAHDC; and the Tourism related stakeholders

(iv) The CEC pointed out that since the timeline to complete the project is two years, the consultants should draft the DPR at the earliest.

In the meeting Voyant Solutions, Project Development Management Consulting agency for the project Swadesh Darshan 2.0 for Ladakh made a detailed presentation on the proposals related to Swadesh Darshan 2.0 for Ladakh.

The Secretary also informed the AKTTA representatives about opening up of the Zojila axis for two-way traffic for LMVs from 27.05.2023. The Secretary pointed out that after pursuing it for quite some time and with the cooperation and hard work of Project Beacon (BRO); Project Vijayak (BRO); ADGP, Ladakh Police; Divisional Commissioner, Ladakh and Traffic Police, J&K the opening of the highway for two-way traffic for LMVs has been made possible. He appreciated the efforts of all authorities & agencies involved in this endeavour. He hoped that this will definitely contribute in improvement in flow of tourists to Kargil in particular and whole of Ladakh in general.

Executive Councilor Social Welfare, Syed Mehdi Fazily; EC Tourism, RD and Zanskar Affairs Er Phunsok Tashi; EC Health, Mohsin Ali; Deputy Commissioner/CEO, LAHDC, Kargil/Chairman, DMC, Swadesh Darshan 2.0; SSP Kargil/Member, DMC, Swadesh Darshan 2.0 Anayat Ali Chowdhury; Director, Tourism Department, Ladakh/State Mission Director, Swadesh Darshan 2.0; Superintending Engineer, PWD (R&B), Kargil/Member, DMC, Swadesh Darshan 2.0; Chief Planning Officer, Kargil/Member Secretary, DMC, Swadesh Darshan 2.0; Executive Officer, Municipal Committee, Kargil/Member; AD Information/Member; Superintendent, Industrial Training Institute, Kargil/Member; AD (Tourism), Kargil/Member; Hassanain Ali, Member, All Kargil Travel Trade Association (AKTTA); Fayaz Ahmad, Member, All Kargil Travel Trade Association (AKTTA) besides team members of Voyant Solutions were present in the meeting.