Bhat Imran
Gulmarg, Feb 11 (KNO): Gulmarg Development Authority (GDA) Saturday said that maintaining the Tangmarg-Gulmarg road has always remained a challenge for them to make it possible for the visitors and winter sports players to reach safely.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gulmarg, Ghulam Jeelani Zargar said, “Conducting a national event like Khelo India is our responsibility and there are always certain challenges whenever you are hosting such a huge event.”
Talking to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Zargar said, “From time to time, GDA always got good support from administration and district administration. We have always tried to give our best to our tourists.”
He said that almost all top officials of youth service and sports and administration have conducted various important meetings to make Khelo India successful. “We have been in good coordination with the different departments that are needed to make this event successful.”
“The most important for GDA during the winters remains Tangmarg-Gulmarg road that almost remains skiddy all the time in winters. Maintaining the road, instructing the people about the conditions of the road are some of the challenges,” Zargar said.
He said that GDA was thankful to Tangmarg police and SDM Tangmarg for managing the road and safety for the visitors. “Tangmarg acts as a base of the Gulmarg. For the convenience of the tourists and visitors, we have seven snow clearance machines that keep the vital road open all the time.”
Zargar further said, “We have tried a lot to accommodate to make every player of winter sports comfortable here. In the past couple of days, there has been continuous snowfall and despite all that, we never budge and keep accommodating players.”
About the death of two skiers who died because of an avalanche, the CEO said that we had already kept medical camps and ambulance services. “However, the incident of the death of two foreign skiers is unfortunate. Sometimes, there are certain things that are beyond our control.”
Asked about the postponement of some events of Khelo India that were scheduled the CEO said that at Kongdoori, some events were postponed because of the fast winds.
“Climatic conditions were such that we couldn’t allow holding of such winter games. However, the rest of the events will be conducted on time,” he added.
The CEO advised the tourists visiting Gulmarg not to off-roading and avoid staying nearby the avalanche prone areas keeping in view the continuous snowfall from the past couple of days. “They can do adventure but it should be a responsible adventure.”—(KNO)
