Budgam: Notwithstanding huge rush of tourists in every district of Kashmir with the advent of spring, J&K Tourism Department’s state of art Charar-i-Sharief tourist bungalow, located at a picturesque locale and constructed by expending crores, wears a deserted look.
As the private hotels are booked for months, this bungalow, at the foothills of Pir-Panchal range, has managed just a handful of bookings in the last four years.
An official source told Greater Kashmir that the lack of basic facilities in the tourist bungalow, constructed in 2002, drives away tourists.
“The aim of the Tourism Department was to make a state of art tourist bungalow to generate revenue and promote tourism but due to lack of facilities, there is almost negligible tourist flow,” he said.
On a visit to the place, Greater Kashmir found out that there was a broken lighting system on the multiple-kanals of the garden of bungalow. With no tourists around, the bungalow was locked when this reporter visited the place.
A source, who wished not to be named, said that there was no inverter facility, heating system or proper garbage disposal system in place.
“When tourists see this state of the place, they cancel the plan and prefer to move to another place. When the main power supply cuts, the place is pushed into darkness. Tourists come to such places to enjoy but you will be surprised to see there is no TV or any other entertainment facility at this place,” said the source.
Greater Kashmir learned that the tourist bungalow managed only 14 bookings since 2018.
“In 2018, there were only three bookings. In 2020, the place saw two bookings. Thus, from 2018 to 2021, there have been only 14 bookings,” said the source.
The officials said that the tourist bungalow, which remained mostly deserted, hosted Yusmarg Development Corporation’s CEO office in the past few years. The office existed there until last year.
The place, which was supposed to see a huge rush of tourists and generate good revenue following huge investment, is in bad shape. On the visit to the place, one finds broken window panes, some covered with paperboard and polythene which give the place an ugly look.
Many local tourists are avoiding the place due to lack of basic facilities.
“Last year I invited my friends to Budgam and we had planned to stay at the tourist bungalow. On witnessing, lack of basic facilities like power supply, heating system and other things, we changed the plan. We stayed at a private hotel. It is unfortunate that despite creating a huge infrastructure, lack of facilities has made it almost defunct and a complete failure,” said Adil Hussain from Budgam.
The place that was supposed to be a source of revenue has ended up being a place with four permanent employees, drawing salaries but with no work to do. Interestingly, an officer, who has been given an additional charge of the bungalow, is not stationed there.
An official said that the permanent in charge was currently on leave and that was why another official was given his charge. Currently, four employees, working as a cook, a watchman, a sweeper and a gardner, are drawing thousands of rupees as salaries with nothing much to do.
Many adventure lovers of the area are aghast over this situation. They maintain that the place that is supposed to bring their area on the tourism map has turned into a failure.
When contacted, Director Tourism GN Itoo did not answer multiple calls and text messages from this reporter.