Kaghan valley receives high number of tourists

MANSEHRA: The Kaghan valley received a high number of tourists on the Eid ul Azha and after that as roads leading to the scenic valley remained choked with the vehicles and eateries were teeming with local and foreign visitors.

“Around 0.7 million vehicles carrying tourists have entered the valley so far and more motorists are on the way to this picturesque destination,” Asif Bahadur, district police officer, told reporters here on Sunday.

The tourists, who started rushing to the Kaghan valley from the first day of the Eidul Azha, were still pouring in.

“We have never seen such a huge number of vehicles entering the valley but we are doing our best to manage the traffic flow within the available resources,” he said.

The tourists who flocked to the valley from within the country and even abroad visited the Babusar Top, Saiful Muluk Lake, Lulusar and even Dodi Pat Sar.

“Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road which links KP with Gilgit- Baltistan is in a dire need of the blacktopping and potholes must be filled,” Mohammad Jabran a tourist from Karachi said.

He said that until MNJ Road and arteries leading to the Saiful Muluk Lake and other such exotic places on earth were not carpeted, the prime minister’s tourism vision couldn’t meet to a success.

Hussain Deen, the chairman of the Hoteliers Association in Kaghan valley said that hotels and restaurants were occupied by the visitors.

“The hoteliers and visitors are strictly following coronavirus standard operating procedures set by the government for the tourism industry,” he added.