OnlyKashmir.in News Desk
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has come down heavily on the valley’s hospitality sector, revealing that nearly 90 percent of the 5,000 hotels constructed in Kashmir over the past six years lack proper approvals. Speaking at the Ethical Tourism Conclave organised by the Tourist Trade Interest Guild at SKICC Srinagar, Sinha said the construction boom had drawn investments worth ₹80,000 crore to ₹1 lakh crore, with locals contributing roughly 90 percent of that capital and outside tour and travel operators accounting for the remaining share.
The L-G singled out prominent hotelier Mushtaq Chaya, present in the audience, estimating his recently built property at around ₹100 crore, and pointing out that hoteliers who built without clearances were now among the loudest voices complaining about encroachment. “The encroachers are the first to complain about encroachment,” Sinha remarked, adding that responsibility had to accompany development rather than being treated as an afterthought.
Sinha also flagged rampant overpricing as a major concern, noting that room tariffs ranging from ₹10,000 to ₹25,000 were discouraging visitors and shortening their stays in the valley. Inflated taxi fares in Srinagar, he said, were compounding the problem and further damaging Kashmir’s reputation among tourists. He stressed that rising footfall numbers alone could not be treated as the sole measure of tourism’s success in the region.
Instead, the L-G called for profits to reach beyond big-ticket hotel chains like Chaya’s to smaller stakeholders such as homestay owners in Gurez and craftspeople in Pulwama, describing shikara operators, artisans and other local players as Kashmir’s genuine “peace stakeholders.” He urged that ecological conservation be treated as a social movement rather than something enforced purely through bans and fines, stressing that the entire society shares responsibility for protecting the region’s fragile lakes, glaciers, forests and mountains.
Highlighting record tourist arrivals and rising investor confidence, Sinha said prosperity from tourism must ultimately reach “the last village, the last family, and the last citizen in the queue.” Calling for a shift toward responsible and ethical tourism practices, the Lieutenant Governor asked stakeholders at the conclave to convert their discussions into concrete action plans with clear goals, defined timelines and proper evaluation mechanisms going forward.
