Waris Fayaz
Baramulla, Feb 21 : In a first, Mund Daji – a picturesque village in Rafiabad hills in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district – is all set to go for the Gala sporting event of the snow festival tomorrow, even as the officials said the arrangements are well intact.
The authorities said they are exploring and developing hidden tourist destinations to provide tourists with more options for recreation.
Mund Daji – a main attraction for the locals as well as non-locals – is located in the lap of mountains surrounded by green forests. The place is the last village of Baramulla’s Rafiabad belt and is geographically accessible from Kupwara, however, due to bad roads, people prefer the Dangiwacha route to reach the destination.
Officials told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that in a bid to promote tourism, especially winter sports games, the extravaganza snow festival is being organized by the district administration Baramulla.
“The initiative for exploring the tourism potential of the unexplored areas and decentralisation of tourism, Skiing, Snow Cricket, ATV, Horse Riding, and Snow Trekking will be the hallmark attractions of the event,” an official from the district administration told KNO.
He said the snow festival will include sports competitions like snow cricket, snow volleyball and tug of war.
“All the necessary arrangements including parking, health facilities, transportation and other facilities are well intact and the locally famous tourist/picnic destination is all set to host the snow festival event tomorrow, he said, adding that elaborate security arrangements have been made and security forces would be deployed along the road stretch leading towards the venue.
Locals while thanking the administration for conducting such an event told KNO that they have “never seen it before”.
“It is a very happy moment for us as the area would witness a snow festival,” the locals said.
“Rafiabad belt, especially the areas like Kiter Daji, Mund Daji, Ladoo Ladura, Vijtop, etc have massive potential and can emerge as another tourist place after famous Gulmarg and other destinations, they added—(KNO)
