On public demand, J-K may put Uri on tour map

‘‘Our place has historical importance and all the major villages en route should be developed as tourist spots,’’ says Maqsood Ahmad, secretary, Baba Fareed Welfare Trust, Uri. ‘‘Not only Kashmiris, people from across the country want to visit Kaman Post as it is now the symbol of peace.’’

J-K’s director general of Tourism Mohammad Saleem Beig says the Department is planning to develop Baramulla and Uri on the tourist map. ‘‘We have purchased land at Salambad to develop it as a tourist destination.’’

Bilal Ahmad, a businessman in Baramulla, wants to drive up to Kaman Post with his friends and family. ‘‘I have never traveled on this road, ahead of Uri town. I saw places like Kaman and Salamabad only on TV,’’ he says.

The government should develop all the places on this road as tourist spots, Ahmad adds. ‘‘In the present circumstances, everyone can’t afford to go to PoK but people should be allowed to travel freely up to Kaman Post,’’ he says.

Like Ahmad, his friend Mohammad Shafi, a government employee, also wants to take the route up to the last point. ‘‘I have heard so much about this place from my elders, now I want to see it myself,’’ he says.