‘May include state land, forest land’: Admin to identify land for 5-star hotels in Jammu Kashmir

Srinagar, May 31: The Jammu Kashmir admin has formed district level committees to be headed by the concerned deputy commissioners for identification of land to establish 5-star hotels in the region.

As per the order issued by the General Administration Department (GAD), number—1116-J&KGAD, dated May 30, 2024, sanction is hereby accorded to the constitution of district level committee (s) for identification of land for establishment of 5-Star hotels in the Union Territory.

The panel (s), as per the order, will have concerned deputy commissioners as its chairman with concerned Director Tourism, DFO, Chief Town Planner, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager District Industries Centre as its members.

“The terms of reference of the committee (s) will be to identify suitable land for establishment of 5-star hotels. This may include State land, forest land, private land etc having the potential and feasibility considering factors such as accessibility and other basic infrastructure required for the project,” the order reads.

The panel(s), as per the order, will submit the proposal through Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Jammu to the Tourism department. The panel(s), will have to identify the site and suggest the distance from the tourist destination and road connectivity as well.

Local News Agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) has said that the development comes amid a tourist surge in the valley.

Quoting officials in the Tourism department, the report added that there is a “dire need” of setting up the 5-star hotels in Jammu Kashmir given the huge tourist influx.

“When we intend to host over two crore tourists, there is a need to have quality infrastructure as well. This time, we are witnessing good arrivals of foreign guests from South East Asian countries and to give them better experience beyond the natural beauty of the Valley, we should have 5-Star hotels across the UT,” he said and welcomed the J&K Administration’s move of setting up panel(s) for identification of land for 5-Star hotels.

Jammu Kashmir admin has been carrying out intensive campaigns to free state land from “illegal” encroachers. As per officials, common and poor people were not touched during the “anti-encroachment drives” launched in early 2023.

The admin disclosed that during the drive, 15.83 lakh kanals of land were retrieved. “Most of this land illegally was occupied by influential persons at multiple locations in the Valley,” officials stated.

Earlier in November 2020, the Jammu and Kashmir administration launched an eviction drive across the Valley. This drive involved demolishing makeshift huts used by the nomadic Gujjar and Bakarwal communities, cutting down orchards on forest land, and issuing notices to forest dwellers to vacate the area.

According to officials, an estimated 15,000 hectares of forest land are under encroachment.