Poor roads driving visitors away from Kargah Buddha

The third and fourth century Buddha statues draw tourists every year and contribute to the economy

GILGIT: With Gilgit anticipating a rush of visitors, the poor condition of roads to some popular attractions may end up driving tourists away.

The third and fourth century Buddha statues at Kargah draw a lot of tourists, domestic and foreign, every year and contribute to the local economy.

But the poor state of the road from Gilgit to Kargha – washed away by rains and floods-  locals fear, may drive these tourists away.



The Kargah Buddha, known as Yaš eni in the local Shina language, is one of the most important symbols of the ancient Buddhist era. The statue was carved on a mountain face close to Gilgit city, in the Kargah Valley. However, the government on Tuesday assured locals that they were trying to fix these pathways to tourism and hence economic prosperity of locas.

“For the promotion of tourism in the region, we are trying our best to rebuild the infrastructure of roads, which had been recently washed away due to floods and heavy rains,” said Gilgit-Baltistan Tourism Minister Fida Khan.

He added that the government was trying to develop the area and promote tourism to boost the economy.

G-B to set up 20 tent villages

To facilitate domestic and international tourists, the Gilgit-Baltistan government has decided to set up a tent village in the province.

“20 tent villages will be established at different open places in G-B while residential facilities will be provided to over 2,000 tourists every day,” G-B government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq told the media on Tuesday.

He said that the increasing inflow of tourists and the presence of insufficient hotels in G-B was creating issues for tourists.

The government, he added, would also accommodate tourists at schools owing to insufficient covered accommodation.



Responding to a question, Faraq said that Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Hafizur Rehman had written a letter to federal government to abolish the requirement for international tourists to secure No-Objection Certificates (NOC) six months in advance before visiting the region.

It is worth mentioning that over a million tourists had visited the region in 2016 and their number was expected to further rise this year.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2017.