Srinagar, Aug 2: Want to know how concerned the government is to revive tourism industry in the City, which witnesses almost no business for three consecutive summers? Sample This: Rs three crore were spent on the much-hyped Chinar Bagh Heritage Park, inaugurated sometime back by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. But the authorities forgot to get the Tchuntu Kul canal cleaned of weeds and other pollutants thereby making the picturesque spot dotted by majestic Chinars a damp squib for visitors particularly the tourists.
 Even though this year the adjascent areas of the Boulevard and the Dal lake are doing brisk business catering the tourists so much so that most of the houseboats are booked in advance for around a month, there are no takers for the houseboat accommodation in the Chinar Bagh area.
 This has left the 70 odd houseboats void of any business in the peak season.
 “How can you expect the tourists at a place which has so much of filth and stench all around,” said a houseboat owner while pointing towards the obnoxious weeds and polythene heaps in the canal snaking around the Chinar park.
 “Leave apart staying in this filthy area I wont even visit it for an hour long picnic,” said Harish Kumar, a tourist from New Delhi.
 “It’s better holidaying in a slum in New Delhi than houseboats in the Chinar Park,” he added while covering his nose.
 The houseboat owners have been saying that the Chinar Bagh facelift proved a “cosmetic measure”.
 “What is the fun of a park when the waterbody adjescent to it is stinking thereby keeping the visitors away?” they argued.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 2 Aug 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 2 Aug 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 3 Aug 2011 00:00:00 IST