Traditionally Kashmir Tourism has remained confined to a “Golden Triangle”, Srinagar, Pahalgam, and Gulmarg. Srinagar has become an urban monster without any control on its expansion or development. Master Plans, zoning for commercial and private residential purposes, building bye laws, and all other regulations have remained on books and papers only. It is a classic study of the degradation of urban environment. The mess is so extensive that it will take a complete book to describe it. However, in regard to over all tourism development, Srinagar has again monopolised the complete potential of the entire valley by being unnecessarily a focal point. Our most important tourism potential is not in Srinagar but all around the valley. Mir Naseem Ahmad, the Chief Town Planner, presently also the Vice-Chairman of the Srinagar Development Authority as well as of the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority had presented a unique Tourism Development Plan for the entire valley to the State Government a couple of decades back. He had done his Masters in Tourism Planning and had prepared this plan as part of his project for the degree. Unfortunately like all other good and workable plans it never saw the light of the day. The main factor for the plan to get shelved was the eruption of turmoil in the valley. A situation had arisen where the existing tourism destinations had become defunct and there was no point in developing new areas or introducing innovative ideas. Now that the situation is gradually becoming conducive for a fresh initiative in developing new tourist destinations, it may be worthwhile to give a second look to this plan. It has been observed that for visiting any tourist destination in the valley, all tourists have to first come to Srinagar. For visits to every other resort, they have to each time pass through Srinagar. This is because most of the resorts lack inter-connectivity. The Plan proposed by Mir Naseem envisages integrated development of all the potential resorts by activating a Peripheral Circuit which he calls the “Kashmir Valley Tourist Rim Corridor”. The corridor is proposed to be started from Qazigund and after going all around the valley it will rejoin the National Highway NH-1 at the same place. The circuit would include the resorts of Aharabal, Yusmarg, Dodapathar, Tangmarg, Gulmarg, Watlab, and Manasbal. In addition, it will throw open new areas all along the route. The new circuit would reduce the travel time of the visitors and enable them to visit maximum number of tourist destinations within a short stay in the valley. This circuit would also reduce traffic intensity on the National Highway and lessen stress on Srinagar and other towns. It will also ensure dispersal of tourism development activities in the areas which have not been developed/harnessed fully so far. After starting from Qazigund, the route will connect Aharabal via Kulgam through existing Yar Khuspur-Tsaugam-Pethdevsar Pahol road. From Pahol it will connect to Batpora via Arigutan-Sedwar. This would involve construction of a 15 kilometre new stretch of road. From Batpora the route will connect to Aharabal through Manzgam-Regpore and Tangmarg. From Aharabal onwards the route will connect Shopian and Pakharpora through Saidpora-Tikru-Shirmal-Banpore-Shajimarg-Tsanpur and Mohanpur. From Pakharpora it will reach Yusmarg via Kanidajan-Wusanmarg and Nagabal. Here a new stretch of road about 8 kilometres in length is to be constructed to connect Yusmarg with Wasun Wudar via Hejan and Palmaidan. From Wasun Wudar the route connects Dodapathar, Raiyar Yetch-Arizal-Zagoo Bridge over River Sukhnag and cross over to Khag via Brass and Khaipora.

The stretch of the route from Qazigund to Khag will make a number of important tourist destinations available to tourists. The most important resorts would be Aharabal-Kungwattan and the Kounsarnag trek. This area has tremendous scope for development as a resort both for leisure as well as adventure tourism. From Aharabal to Yusmarg there are a number of side valleys and high altitude meadows which can be easily developed. This stretch would also provide access to the peaks of Tattakuti, Sunset, and other smaller ones for Alpine style climbing. The Sunset Peak at 15,567 feet above sea level is the highest in the range and a beautiful 3 day climb. This part includes the valley leading to Pir Pantsal pass through Hirpur and Dubjan which is on the historical Mughal Road. A totally new area of Dodapathar which has the potential of becoming a very enchanting resort will become accessible. The historical route to Kashmir which has been repeatedly mentioned in Rajtarangni via Tosamaidan also gets connected with this stretch of the route. There is already a rough road going to the Tosamaidan which can be upgraded. From Khag there is also a three hour long uphill trek which takes one directly to Tsoamaidan. At the top there are still some ruins of a watch station which used to be constructed in ancient Kashmir on all access routes to the valley.

From Khag onwards the route connects with the main Magam Road and Duru through Shangilpur and Hantspur. This road will connect Drang-Tangmarg-Gulmarg-Baba Reshi and will meet main NH-1A at Pothkha Sangrama via Chunti Kul, Alapathar-Parthakalanthra-Manigam-Wagur and will cross Ningal Nallah near Shrakwar. From Sangrama the route connects Watlub-Bandipore through Sopore-Warpora-Mangpur and Watpur.

This portion of the Rim Corridor apart from putting the famous resort of Gulmarg on the Peripheral Circuit will provide access to new areas. These include Rohama and Qazinag Peaks near Baramulla. The entire Lolab Valley through Sopore-Kupwara road. Access to Kupwara will allow development of Bangus, a high altitude meadow much larger in size than Gulmarg. Bandipore is the gateway to Gurais and Tilel Valleys through the Razdani Pass. This is a completely new tourist area still unexploited and could be the future of tourism in the valley. Bandipore also provides access to the backside of Harmukh massif with the high altitude lakes at the foot of these mountains. From Watlub to Bandipore the entire shore of Wular Lake can be developed for water Sports and other recreational activities. Watlub itself is an ideal location for such activities.

From Bandipore the route will proceed to Manasbal via Guran and Ajas and thence to Ganderbal. Manasbal is already being developed as an important resort with emphasis on water sports. Ganderbal has a connection to Snamarg via Kangan. This stretch apart from connecting Sonamarg and Ladakh also provides access to two important trekking areas. The first one is the high altitude Lake Trek along Harmukh range through Gangabal, Satsar, Gadsar, Kishensar, Vishensar and finally to Sonamarg via Nichnai. The second stretch is across Kulan to Lidder Valley via Tarsar and Marsar Lakes.

From Ganderbal the route will take the return path through Foreshore Road to Dal Lake, Mughal Gardens, and after crossing Srinagar would take National Highway to reach Pahalgam via Salar and Kular. From Pahalgam it will proceed via Martand Temples, Achabal, Verinag, Kokarnag, and reach back to Qazigund. Thus a complete circle of the valley along the foothills would be carried out. Except for two short stretches of 15 and 8 kilometres, there is a basic network of roads already available. In order to make the Rim Corridor a reality, the entire peripheral road would have to be upgraded to National Highway specifications with a dual carriageway except for the stretches where it already exists in that level. The connectivity to this Rim Corridor from various district headquarters en route would have to be improved. There are different Tourism Development Authorities existing all along the Rim Corridor but these are operating independently without any intra-authority co-ordination. Keeping the Peripheral Road as the basis, an overall Tourism Perspective Plan of 20 years duration for development of all potential areas along the corridor can be prepared. The Development can take places in phases over a period of time but in an integrated manner and not in isolation for each area. The drive along this Rim Corridor itself would be a unique experience giving a taste of rural life, lush green forests, and beautiful views of mountains, rivers, and lakes. During winter a number of places along the route have extensive potential for being developed as winter sports resorts both for Alpine and Cross Country Skiing. At the present moment almost entire tourism development gets concentrated in a few overdeveloped and battered resorts. In fact, the development of a chain of resorts along this periphery will dramatically increase the visitor absorption capacity of the whole valley. This is a totally new concept of tourism development wherein the existing potential is proposed to be exploited by giving benefits to a larger section of the population by integrating it with the overall development the entire region instead of the development of isolated mountain resorts in remote places. The overall situation is gradually improving and with International Air Connectivity as well as opening of a number of surface accesses it is imperative to have this perspective of a long term development instead of ad hoc short term development. With this type of development along with the return of peace, Tourism which is wrongly projected at present as the back bone of our economy can in the real sense become the main pivot of valley’s economy. The first and foremost step is to prepare the peripheral road of required standards. This work can be taken in hand straightway. In the meantime, an overall perspective plan can be developed through professional consultants after a field survey. It is hoped that our planners will give a thought to this new possibility for development of tourism in the Valley.