Maharaja Palace to be developed into convention centre

Srinagar: The Maharaja Palace at the famous Ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir, declared as a heritage site by Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), will be developed by the Jammu and Kashmir government into a convention centre to hold tourism-related conferences at the national and international level.

"The conservation work of the palace, costing Rs 1.61 crore, has been prepared by INTACH to develop and preserve the heritage site as a convention centre in two phases to hold national and international level tourism-related conferences," Minister of State for tourism Nasir Aslam Wani said today. He said the Gulmarg Development Authority (GDA) has been directed to immediately start conservation work on the Palace. The conservation plan of the building was adopted at a high-level meeting under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here recently to restore the pristine glory of the palace, the minister said. He said the truss work of the heritage site would be completed by next month which is necessary to protect the structure during coming winter. Under the first phase, the government has released Rs 50 lakh for safeguarding the structure and it would be executed by the GDA. The INTACH would provide the design of the conservation project and also monitor its execution, the minister said. PTI