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Srinagar, Pulwama, Budgam: More than a year after the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 25 tourists and one local, the Lieutenant Governor (LG) administration in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has again tightened security restrictions across the Kashmir Valley, with several tourist locations still closed or only partially open to visitors.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack last year, the J&K administration shut 48 of the Valley’s 87 tourist places as part of heightened security measures. While some tourist spots have since reopened, several offbeat destinations continue to remain closed, and a few that were partially reopened have again been closed in a fresh order.

The continued restrictions have raised questions about the coordination between the National Conference (NC)-led government in the Union territory (UT) and the LG administration, which oversees the police in the UT. The order has also raised questions as J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah projects Kashmir as a “safe tourist destination” and seeks to diversify tourism beyond traditional tourist hotspots in the UT.

Orders don’t specify reason behind closure

The updated official closure orders uploaded on district administration websites do not specify why these destinations continue to remain shut. The absence of a formal explanation comes even as the government has been encouraging tourists to explore lesser-known destinations in J&K.

The updated closure order comes at a time when the Abdullah government has repeatedly pushed the need to promote unexplored destinations in J&K. Last year, during an interaction with a delegation of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), the chief minister said the UT administration was developing nine new tourist destinations, with particular focus on border tourism.

Highlighting signs of recovery in the tourism industry, Abdullah said Kashmir’s tourism sector had shown resilience and expressed optimism about sustained growth, recalling the sharp increase in tourist movement witnessed since the 2022 season.........

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