Srinagar, June 4: In what would help conserve its environment while dealing with the growing tourist rush, the picturesque hill resort of Sonamarg shall soon have six camping sites.
 Sources said the decision to this extent was taken at a recently held meeting of Sonamarg Development Authority (SDA) chaired by Director Tourism, Talat Ahmed.
 The meeting while maintaining that growth of concrete structures to cater to tourist rush at Sonamarg could spoil its beauty, said that there was need to develop camping sites.
 The meeting said that each camping site will host at least 200 persons. “The six camping sites deep inside the picturesque locales would be able to cater to around 1200 people at a time that too without spoiling the beauty of the place,” the meeting said.
 Chief Executive Officer, SDA, Muhammad Yousuf while confirming the development said: “The pitching of tents has already been started on pilot basis to see how successful the sites could be.”
 He said the sites will have state-of-the-art tents. The official however admitted that the sanitation and garbage collection would be of critical importance.
 “We have already foreseen this issue and arrangements are accordingly being made,” he said.
 Meanwhile the tourist influx to the tourist resort continues to swell with each passing day.
 Syed Nadeem Khan, a techie settled in Australia said he couldn’t believe his eyes how the facilities have improved at the resort over the years.
 “Earlier heaps of garbage littered all along the resort but this time the cleanliness has improved,” Khans said.
 Vijay Kumar, a tourist from New Delhi hailed the Sonamarg police station for its assistance.
 “My kid went missing at the resort when we alighted from the bus for tea. But before we would make a complaint in this regard, we heard a police loudspeaker announcing they had found a kid and luckily it was ours,” Kumar told Greater Kashmir even as he hailed SHO Sonamarg for the endeavor.
 For now, apart from some private hotels, the SDA has come up with accommodation in the form of dormitories for around 1000 people.
 But to be apace with the growing needs of accommodation, the SDA for now eyes on camping accommodation.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 4 Jun 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 4 Jun 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 5 Jun 2012 00:00:00 IST