Uttarakhand : Chief Secretary reviewed the tourism department

Wristbands and other necessary arrangements should also be ensured for the safety of climbers and trekkers

Chief Secretary Dr. S.S. Sandhu, during the review of the tourism department in the secretariat, directed the officials to arrange wristbands for the mountaineers and trekkers, so that they could get information about their location through satellite and other means. This will help a lot in search operations. He said that other necessary arrangements should also be made for the safety of mountaineers and trekkers.
The Chief Secretary said that Chardham Yatra is seasonal in the state, but there is wide scope for off-season tourism. Finding them out, plans should be prepared. He said that to promote tourism, work should be done on connectivity first. Work should be done on the construction of helipads and heliports at the earliest. Priority should be fixed for developing helipads in tourist places. He said that the areas where there is a lot of potential for tourism development, but are lagging behind due to connectivity, should be given priority in those areas.
The Chief Secretary said that facilities of water and toilets etc. should be made available at every 20, 30 kms on the travel routes, so that the passengers and the general public do not face any problem. For this, small shops etc. can be arranged for smooth operation. He said that facilities should be developed at tourist places according to tourists of all ages. The youth use technology a lot. The youth need every information on the phone, for this such an app and website should be prepared on which all types of information are available, but arrangements for offline information should also be kept for the elderly. App and website should be made citizen friendly and easy to use. Tourist places should also be developed according to the leisure of the children.

The Chief Secretary said that despite the tourism department having potential for tourism in such areas, all this is not possible due to lack of facilities, resorts can be developed there, which will be initially run through GMVN and KMVN. It can be sold when profit is made and new space can be developed with that money. Due to this many tourist places will be developed in the state. He directed that such tourist places should be worked on priority basis.
The Chief Secretary should work on all the work plans with timeliness. The deadline for each task should be set in advance. Each plan should be monitored weekly or fortnightly, so that the work can be completed within the stipulated time frame. The Chief Secretary directed the officers to focus on marketing and publicity as well.

Secretary Dilip Jawalkar, Additional Secretary Yugal Kishore Pant and CEO Yukada Swati Bhadauria and other officers were present on the occasion.