From the coming summer season,visitors at the three main water bodies Pong Dam,Govind Sagar lake and Pandoh will replicate the Chamera dam experience of water sports,which are being introduced on a big scale. This was one of key decisions taken at a meeting of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation in Dharamsala. Chairing the meeting,Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said nearly 40-km long stretch of clear water in the Pong dam reservoir,known as Maharana Pratap Sagar,was available for introducing water sports activity on the lines of Taleru (Chamera-I) Water Sports Complex in Chamba district,which was adopted as the first public private partnership project. The state government has invested Rs 76.37 crore while the private sector contributed Rs 70 crore to ply motor boats and strengthen quality water sports infrastructure. Bird watching at Pong dam,where migratory birds arrive every year in good numbers,proposed village haats and the recently constructed ropeway at Solang Nallah,near Manali,are some of the recent steps taken in the tourism sector. Dhumal said a Rs 482-crore project had been approved by the Asian Development Bank for tourism development infrastructure. For this,the states share will be Rs 128.47 crore. The CM also spoke about the upcoming joint venture project with Punjab to connect Anandpur Sahib to Naina Devi with a ropeway,besides six similar projects in the state.
