By Sarat Sarma
Jatinga, a major tourist attraction
Nagaon, Jul 14 : The Dima Hasao district autonomous council has submitted a Rs 100-crore masterplan to Dispur with a three-pronged project to turn the district into a tourist destination.
The plan includes three major components — clean the district headquarters of Haflong, revive the devastating communication system and build a three-star lodge for tourists.
“There must be a very systematic and scientific initiative to clean the hill town, as it is totally polluted. The drainage system has to be worked on, two big lakes need to be restored and the market cleared of encroachments,” said a source in the autonomous council.
Chief executive member Samarjeet Haflongbar said the masterplan would soon be approved of by the state government’s planning and development department.
“It will finally reach New Delhi for administrative and financial approval. We hope Dispur takes a serious approach, as the hill district urgently needs to be turned into a safe and beautiful place for tourists,” he said.
“The 104-km-long road to Guwahati from Haflong will be improved in a year. Two separate projects worth Rs 32 crore have been sanctioned for the purpose. This is not within the masterplan,” he added.
Dima Hasao has its share of tourist attractions — Jatinga, where birds fall to their every winter, Hajong lake with 11 types of tortoises, the decayed historical monuments and statues of Kachari kingdom and Borrile hill.
Development of all these tourist spots was a major component of the three-year Rs 45-crore Rashtriya Sama Vikas Yojana project, but it failed to yield results, thanks to the law and order situation and bad communication.
“The number of tourists coming to the district has been abysmal for the last five years. It was zero last year. There needs to be a good security network so that tourists can travel through the district without hesitation,” said Anup Langthasa, a resident of Haflong.
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