Scam: Tourism dept outsources ‘prized’ Zabarwan Park in lieu for ‘peanuts’
Srinagar: Without any auction and “in violation of norms”, the Directorate of Tourism Kashmir has allotted the management of the prized Zabarwan Park on the Boulevard allegedly to a “blue eyed” person even as the department maintains there were no takers for the project.
As per official documents accessed by ‘Kashmir Vision’, Director Tourism Kashmir has on May 27 allotted the management of the park-including running a restaurant and entry ticketing for 3 years at a yearly amount of Rs 3.50 lakh.
The department has reportedly in a hush handed over the parking area of Zabarwan Park to the private party.
While it has been a routine practice for the Tourism Department to outsource the management of its services, the Director Tourism has said that the prevailing “law and order situation” in the valley had “prompted the private sector parties to withdraw from participation in the management fearing business loss.
“The department has reportedly allotted the management of the park as it has said that no participants had come forward to be part of the tendering exercise.”
It said that the services at the park were non functional for the last one year as “no response to the open auction notices was received from the public”.
The Director Tourism said that the particular individual whom it had awarded the contract has “voluntarily offered his services to carry the functioning of these activities in the park pleading that he will promote the activities on the site as a whole”.
It is worth mentioning that the concerned Resort Officer from whom the Director Tourism Kashmir had sought a report into the matter had clearly intimated to “consider the functioning of the park on various merits, as the resort is losing its utility”.
Sources however, alleged that the maintenance contract had been awarded on the basis of “favoritism” as no tenders or auction was floated.
Director Tourism Kashmir, Nisar Ahmad Wani however, told ‘Kashmir Vision’ that the department had awarded the contract to the said party as the last resort as “there had been no takers for the project despite extending the last date several times”.
The rest of the participants in fray other than the selected individual, had “given in writing” their disinterest in the project, Wani added.
KV Correspondent
