Army to organize 3-day snow sports festival

Why in news:

• Army stationed in Jammu and Kashmir has come forward to give a boost to the efforts of the administration to revive pandemic-hit tourism industry.
• As part of the Army’s efforts, a three-day snow sports festival will be held in the snow-bound Bhaderwah in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir.
• Army’s Rashtriya Rifles unit based at Bhaderwah will hold the three-day snow carnival in collaboration with district administration Doda and Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering in the picturesque valley, also known as mini-Kashmir for its resemblance with the ‘paradise on earth’.
• In the run-up to the three-day festival, different activities like snow sledging, skiing, boarding and snowman making are going on at Thanthera, Jaie Valley, Sartingal and Padri under the supervision of Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Thathri, who has been appointed nodal officer of the festival.
• Apart from these, other attractions will include live performance by band of Bhaderwah, photography exhibition cum competition, stalls by J&K Tourism department, high altitude warfare school and Indian Institute of skiing and Mountaineering.
• To finalise the arrangements, officials said the Additional Deputy Commissioner Bhaderwah also called a high level meeting of Army officers, civil administration and other stakeholders of the tourism industry for the success of the event.
• The primary objective to organise snow carnival at this time is to give the much-needed boost to tourism in Bhaderwah valley which is the mainstay of the economy of the locals who have suffered a lot due to the coronavirus pandemic. The snow festival will provide a platform to the youth to showcase their talent.
• Locals expressed their gratitude to the Army and said the event is a welcome step and hoped that it would help revive the badly-hit tourism industry.
• The tourism stakeholders were, however, critical of Bhaderwah Development Authority (BDA) for its alleged failure to highlight and boost tourism potential in Bhaderwah.
• According to local tour operators and managers, the Army, besides maintaining peace and law and order, is going an extra mile by taking the much required initiative to bring back the derailed tourism industry to life but on the other hand BDA, which is responsible to develop tourism, has completely failed to take any initiative to revive tourism.