Nobra, Aug 18: Jammu and Kashmir government will approach the Centre for removing the existing permit system for tourists to enable them to visit remote places in Ladakh, including the Nobra Valley. "I would take up with Prime Minister and Defence Minister the matter relating to doing away with the existing system of inner-line permit to enable tourists to visit picturesque places in ladakh," Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said here yesterday at a function organisted to felicitate him and his Cabinet colleagues on their first visit to Nobra.
He said he would raise it during the ensuing Inter-State Council meeting at Srinagar later this month.
While the issue of dispensing with this inner-line permit system would be pursued to its "logical end", the administration must ensure that till then such permits are issued "expeditiously without any delay," Mufti said. Once inner-line restrictions on visits of tourists are removed, the area can expect good tourist traffic, mufti said, referring to the tourist potential of the area.
Besides Nunkun, the area leading to Siachen Glacier was ideal for trekking and other adventure activities, the Chief Minister said.
Mufti also assured the residents of Nobra Valley in the state that it would ask the Centre to formulate a "multi-crore" hydel project on the Shoik River in the area. Though Ladakh had tremendous potential in hydro-electricity, unfortunately it had not been harnessed to the benefit of the state and the region, Mufti said.
"Despite vast potential, the Ladakh region continues to starve for electricity," the Chief Minister added. Bureau Report