Despite the tall claims made by Tourism department of encourage eco-tourism in the Himalayan State, Uttarakhand’s major tourist attraction sites like Asan wetland presents a different colour, exposing the real apathy and inefficiency of the department.
Famous for migratory birds visiting this wetland, Asan also is the location of the State’s Spring Bird Festival this year. However, the claims of the Tourism department about improving infrastructure for tourists appears to be baseless for a visitor to this ‘famous’ place.
The Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam office at Asan is a cabin with broken furniture which was sans any official when this correspondent visited this tourist destination. The boats and life jackets offered to tourists here are not of good quality.The boats and equipment to be used for rescue in case of an accident are not in a good shape. Though there is one employee checking the tickets and providing life jackets, there is no life guard. The level of hygiene at the eatery is not up to the desired level. The washroom is also damaged and dirty. When asked about this, an employee said that repair work would be undertaken ‘soon’.