Kunjwal says U’khand doing little for tourists

Dehradun: Uttarakhand assembly speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal on Friday said successive governments had done little to tap the full tourism potential of the state. Tourism minister Dinesh Dhaney, however, rubbished the speaker’s assertions.
Kunjwal, on a two-day tour of Kumaon, said more tourists would arrive in the state not only from other parts of the country but also abroad if roads and trekking areas were better maintained. “Once we are able to rid our nearly 200 motorable roads of potholes in Garhwal and Kumaon, tourism will get a boost,” the speaker said.
He said there was good reason more tourists chose to visit Himachal Pradesh, rather than coming to Uttarakhand.
Talking to reporters at Almora, Kunjwal, also Congress legislator from Jageshwar in Almora district, said tourists expect minimal facilities, and successive governments, ever since the state was carved out in the year 2000, have neglected even these. Better civic amenities, connecting roads, parking places and bridges, would go a long way in attracting tourists, he said.
Kunjwal asserted that the state economy depends on income from tourism, and this sector cannot be ignored.
Cabinet minister for tourism Dinesh Dhaney, however, said the speaker was speaking from a position of “blissful ignorance”. Speaking with reporters in the state capital, the tourism minister said the ND Tiwari government had been instrumental in charting out a tourism policy for the state in 2003. He added that being the speaker, it was rather unbecoming for Kunjwal to make statements like these.