Despite the difficulties of transportation and other challenges, a good degree of development has been achieved
DADU: It was early morning; the cloudy strip in the east was looking like a foamed surface of sea. At the end of the cliffs, the scene was mesmerising: it seemed as if the clouds were falling like a great natural waterfall. A moment later, the sun rose with magnificent beauty. The scene was dazzling. We were at an elevation of 5,688 feet at the Gorakh Hill Station in Sindh.
On February 8, 2015, a bus full of guests from Karachi led by our friend Murtaza Noonari reached Sujag Sansar Office in Johi town. Visitors, their numbers in the hundreds, were busy strolling on the pavements, gazing at the cloudy strips, enjoying the view of the sunrise and taking pictures.
We went to see the government guest house and hotel. Juman Jamali, the manager of the hotel, despite a lot of rush at his hotel and its small shop, came forward to greet us. He shared that during the summer months, there is an even greater rush but in the winter season, up to 500 to 600 visitors are seen to arrive on weekends. He said that after the recent snowfall, the visitors have started arriving again.
The Gorakh Hill Authority has done a good job by ensuring that development work at Gorakh is completed in the shortest possible time. Roads are in a good condition. Despite the difficulties of transportation and other challenges, a good degree of development has been achieved. In addition to guest house rooms, pavements, galleries, etc. have increased the beauty of the place and created a lot of ease for visitors. One local said that more development work has been done in a one-year period than in the past 60 years. The guests said that they were yearning to visit this place before but the perception that there was a poor law and order situation in the area had held them back. In reality, there is no security problem. Many of those who had come to visit said that now they would do their best to promote the Gorakh resort, which continues to be one of the less popular honeymoon locations in the country, despite its immense beauty and good facilities. The only factor that prevents Gorakh from becoming a popular tourist site is the fact that it is located in Sindh, and is completely detached from the myriad tourist sites of the Northern Areas. But this difference of location should not be a disadvantage.
The Gorakh Hill was discovered by the British, who wanted to make it an army base and a tourist resort. Fatima Jinnah, G M Syed, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and others have visited Gorakh in the past. It covers an area of 2,500 acres. There are many tourist guide stations, which can be easily accessed. Owing to the recent improvement of roads, vehicles of all kinds can reach Gorakh. However, planting of trees, installing chair lifts and more such steps are needed to transform this site into a world-class tourist resort. Due to security issues in Swat and other tourist spots in the Northern Areas of Pakistan, Gorakh has the opportunity to become a popular tourist destination. For this, Gorakh needs good publicity and the media needs to do its job in this regard.
Gulsher Panhwer
Published in The Express Tribune, February 12th, 2015.
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