Advisor to the Governor, Mr. Khurshid Ahmed Ganai, Thursday chaired a series of Board meetings of the corporations and societies of the Tourism Department which included JKTDC, J&K State Cable Car Corporation and SKICC.

Financial Commissioner, Finance Department, Mr. A. K. Mehta, Principal Secretary, Tourism Department, Mr. Navin Kumar Chaudhary, Director Tourism, Kashmir, Mr. Nisar Ahmad Wani, Director (Planning) and the Director (Finance) of the Tourism Department attended the meeting. MD JKTDC, Mr. Asgar Hussain, MD J&K CCC, Mr. Shamim Ahmad and Director SKICC, Mr. Javed Bakshi, presented their respective agendas before the Board of Directors for consideration and approval.

Mr. Ganai, who is in-charge of the Tourism Department, laid emphasis on completing all pending statement of accounts and annual audits within the stipulated timelines as per the format notified by the Finance Department.

During the BoD meeting of Cable Car Corporation, Principal Secretary Tourism informed the meeting that the Central Government has in principle agreed to provide viability gap funding for two new cable car projects each for Jammu & Kashmir divisions to boost footfall of tourists in the existing and new tourist destinations. Accordingly, MD Cable Car was directed to identify four tourist and pilgrim destinations in J&K and revert to the Board with feasibility reports.   

While being briefed about the status of Jammu Ropeway, the Chairman advised MD Cable Car to obtain safety certification from the competent authority and undertake trial runs for at least two months before starting commercial operations.

The commercial operations of Gulmarg Cable Car and CSR funding were also discussed in the meeting. FC (Finance) advised the MD to improve the ambience of Gulmarg Cable Car properties and create world-class restroom and parking facilities to facilitate the tourists. The Board appreciated the introduction of online ticketing, provided it is fool-proof and does away with the waiting lines of tourists for a gondola ride.