Adventure sports start in Govind Sagar Lake in Una district

Hamirpur/Una (HP), Sep 19 (UNI) Adventure sports activities have come into being on a large scale in the state of Himachal Pradesh and the Una district of the state has also become a latest point in this direction.
Since a major part of the Govind Sagar Lake is located in the Una district, the administration has started adventure sports in the lake to attract more tourists across the World.
There are many such places in the Una district that are of historical and religious importance and all of them are located on western side of the lake and that is why when people visit them they may also take part in the adventure activities in the lake also.
Recently, the trials for adventure water sports activities in the Gobind Sagar Lake near Androli village in district Una of Himachal pradesh began on Thursday. Motorboats, kayaks, water scooters and e-hydrofoil surf boards were put in service in the lake and tested by experts from the Water Sports Centre at the Pong Dam.
The six-day trials will end on September 21 and more water sports equipment will be tested and displayed.
HP Rural development Virender Kanwar, who is also MLA from Kutlehar assembly constituency of the district, says that the sports and paragliding would be launched soon and basic infrastructure to sustain week-end tourism be created initially.
Kanwar said Kutlehar did not have any big industries and the hills provided fewer opportunities for agriculture, adding that tourism would boost the economy of the locals.
In order to give a boost to the adventure activities, a society named Kutlehar Tourism Development was formed under the chairmanship of the deputy commissioner, Una recently and the Bhakra Beas Management Board has issued the no-objection certificate and also notified water sports routes in the reservoir. Besides, the State Tourism and Civil Aviation Department had permitted and notified water and paragliding sports activities in the region.
In the month of August last, instructors from the Directorate of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, Manali, had conducted paragliding sorties from the Solasingi mountain range of Kutlehar and notified two launch sites at Piplu and Gharvasada villages, besides two landing spots in the valley.
The government of Himachal Pradesh is taking into account both forward and backward linkages and also as a mark of Government-led-Private Sector-driven and Community Welfare-oriented policy, concrete attempt has been made to step up the momentum of water sports which in turn popularize tourism in the state. In 2016, the state government has shown its willingness to popularize water sports activities. The government had appointed a nodal officer to oversee the development in the matter directly.
To attract tourists across the globe the department is organizing promotional festivals such as State Level Shirui Lily Festival, Manipur Sangai Festival, Women Polo Tournament and Barak Spring Festival. On an average, the Sangai Festival is attended by 40, 000 people per day including foreigners from 20 countries.
The State Government has initiated a proposal for regular bus service from Imphal to Mandalay. Rail and Air link between Manipur and Myanmar is also under active consideration. In short, Manipur is going to be opened up for larger global connectivity with a view to sensitizing the land locked State in terms of greater competitiveness, innovation and investment. Isolation is a thing of the past. When the whole world has become a global village, isolation may create the painful feeling of being left out. What we should do is to enrich and strengthen the internal competitive potential.
For the delicate task of maintenance we need service-oriented and performance-driven manpower that looks after the tourist homes with or without the arrival of tourists. The service of private players may now be a better option in view of three distinctive articles of courtesy, care, and convenience.
The Rural development minister and local MLA is hopeful that with the starting of the adventure activities in the district, its economy will get a boost and it will become a major place of attraction for the people.