The timing could have been better if not perfect for having a wishful thinking to convert ailing tourist resort Gulmarg into India’s Davos (Switzerland). The priority should have been to put the house in order first and then dream big. But things seem to work anti-clockwise for Mufti Mohammad Syeed as he wants to create castles in the air without having a look at the ground beneath his feet. There is nothing wrong, as such, to plan things that would attract people to visit Kashmir and boost local economy in turn. But for such kind of thinking one needs to be fully aware of the situation on ground. And the situation on the ground is quite contrast to what Mufti Sayeed dreams. To start with, the road leading to Gulmarg is under construction since last 6 years, if not more. A trip from Srinagar’s airport to Gulmarg is like going back and forth in time where one gets to experience every kind of nuisance that a third world country can offer a tourist. And then when a tourist actually lands in Gulmarg it resembles one big garrison with army men and their vehicles dwarfing tourists and their vehicles.

Over the years, successive governments have failed to free Gulmarg from army’s clutches. In December 2010, then CM of Kashmir Omar Abdullah famously said that the way it (army) is spreading boundaries of the school (High Altitude Warfare School in Gulmarg)…the day is not far when it would have to be either the army or the state government in Gulmarg. Since then nothing has changed on the ground in Gulmarg. Army is still in command in this tourist hot spot that Mufti dreams of turning into a Davos.

On March 26, 2015 the state government informed the assembly that 170696 Kanals of state land is under unauthorized occupation of army and other armed forces in J&K.

When the concerned minister was asked about illegally occupied land in Gulmarg by army and other security forces and plans to evacuate it he said the issues regarding unauthorized occupation would be taken up in next Civil Military Liaison Conference (CMLC).

There is complete disconnect between what Mufti says and what is actually happening on the ground. In last two decades a major part of Gulmarg was made out of bounds for locals by the army. There were efforts by the previous government to at least get some of the areas freed from the army but nothing much has happened. Gulmarg is fast turning into army private holiday resort than a tourist spot for locals and visitors. Even the waste generated by army stationed in Gulmarg is taking tool on the fragile ecology of the region.

But then Mufti has his own way of seeing things. He simply promises and forgets! Let us first free Gulmarg and restore its former glory and then dream of Davos.

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