SRINAGAR: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said he would raise the issue of reopening tourist destinations closed after the Pahalgam terror attack during Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s upcoming visit to Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing the Legislative Assembly, Abdullah said several tourist locations in the Kashmir Valley had remained shut and stressed that the time had come to reopen them. He said discussions with the Government of India on the matter were ongoing.
“I assure the House that the issue of reopening tourist places will be taken up with the Home Minister during his visit to Jammu and Kashmir,” the Chief Minister said.
Abdullah also flagged concerns over the existing registration process in the tourism sector, describing it as outdated and cumbersome. He said the rules and procedures governing registrations had not been reviewed since 1978 and that the government was working to reform them.
He clarified that linking tourism registrations with the Public Service Guarantee Act, which mandates time-bound delivery of services, had not succeeded in curbing corruption. The government, he added, was considering simplifying the process through self-declaration or a deemed approval mechanism.
Following the April 22, 2025 terror attack in Pahalgam, in which 26 civilians, most of them tourists, were killed, authorities had ordered the closure of several tourist destinations across Jammu and Kashmir. Some of these locations were later reopened in phases.
