Chief minister Harish Rawat has directed officials of the Forest Department and Tourism Department to undertake coordinated efforts in order to boost eco-tourism in Uttarakhand. The Chief Minister instructed the officials to make the eco-tourism corporation functional without delay.
He further said that the eco-tourism committee should be formed to develop forest villages into eco-tourism destination after drafting an outline for the plan in question. The CM said this while chairing a meeting to review eco-tourism and related action plans at the Secretariat here on Thursday.
Addressing the officials, Rawat told them to work on bringing about the improvement needed in the home-stay scheme. He said that the villages on the fringes of forest areas should be linked to the State’s natural heritage and tourism destination circuit.
The CM said, “Through the facilitation of varied tourism activities, income generation activities can be increased for residents of villages on the fringes of about 60 per cent of the State’s forests,” he said while also stressing on the need for improving the condition of the mountain economy through eco-tourism activities.
Such facilitation can be effective for halting the continued migration of people from the rural mountainous regions. Activities like mountaineering and rock climbing should also be included in measures taken through the eco-tourism corporation.
He said that attention should also be given to ensuring that better use is made of the forest dak bungalows for which the eco-tourism corporation should also do the needful on its part. The officials concerned were further directed to initiate work and also involve famous writers in the direction of preparing the untold stories linked to these dak bungalows.
The CM further stated that two vice chairperson and three member public representatives will be nominated to the eco tourism corporation limited in order to enable better execution of such works.
He directed officials to ensure that local craft items should also be showcased in the dak bungalows in addition to which the local craftsmen should be provided wood at a discount rate so as to enable the publicity of native culture, art and traditions of Uttarakhand. Rawat said that forest and tourism trekking routes should be identified and coordinated efforts should be made in order to enable their maximum possible use for tourism activities.
He further elicited focus on the need for simplification of official procedure for ascertaining and payment of peak fees and securing trekking permission for which a single-window system should be put in place. Rawat also directed the officials to give final shape to the beach camping policy. Chief secretary Shatrughna Singh and other officials concerned were also present in the meeting.