MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government is most likely to introduce a bill in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday to establish an authoritarian “tourism promotion” body which would override several laws or their provisions, including the decades-old forest protection regulations.

The move, after it was partly leaked on social media, has triggered serious apprehensions and criticism from political and civil society activists who believe it may pave the way for an unwarranted human intervention in the territory’s highlands, particularly in Neelum valley, and thus aggravate global warming and biodiversity loss.

The proposed AJK Tourism Promotion (Amendment) Act 2022 is in effect an updated version of a previous law enacted by the PML-N government in 2019, whereby an eight-member state tourism executive committee (STEC) was constituted to formulate rules, regulations and policy pertaining to tourism promotion and examine the suitability and subsequently approve or turn down projects for tourism promotion.

The STEC, which included six civil servants and a representative of the only AJK-owned or any commercial bank, was headed by the minister for tourism and did not compromise the basic authority and functions of the tourism or any other allied department.

However, the new bill proposes establishment of an assertive “Special Tourism Zone Development Authority” to “plan, manage, control, supervise and monitor the activities” in [a] “special tourism zone” to be identified by it.

It has proposed eight civil servants and two representatives of the army as members of the authority while the terms and conditions, qualifications and experience of the chairman to be appointed by the government would be prescribed later.

“The Authority shall be a corporate body, having perpetual succession and a common seal, with power to acquire, hold and dispose of property, both moveable and immoveable, in its name and shall its name sue and be sued,” reads the bill, a copy of which is available with Dawn.

“The tourism department shall maintain close liaison with the Authority on all matters pertaining to special tourism zone project and facilitate smooth functioning of ‘one window operation’ ensuring that unimpeded project development activities are undertaken by the investor and that no major decisions are held up for approval from the concerned AJK quarters for more than 21 days,” it adds.

The proposed law gives sweeping and exclusive powers to the Authority to “develop, regulate and implement regulations in respect of spatial planning, master planning to regulate land use, building code to regulate construction, forestry code to protect and preserve forest and trees, and code for preservation of wildlife, biodiversity, flora and fauna in special tourism zones and act [itself] as regulatory body for implementation.”

While the Authority has been empowered to appoint officials and consultants on its own and within its budget, it has been made mandatory for all government departments intending to start any project in a special tourism zone to obtain prior NOC from the former.

As it was not enough, it states that the special tourism zone would be dealt with under the new law and several other laws or their provisions, including the Jammu Kashmir Forest Protection Regulations of 1930, would have no jurisdiction in the said area.

Even the reserved or protected areas of forests or a national park or any part of them would cease to be the same after being declared as a special tourism zone under the proposed law, it adds.

When someone leaked parts of the proposed bill, social media was flooded with comments smelling a rat in the move and criticising it.

“In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, in the presence of the tourism department, a Tourism Authority is being set up to fulfill some nefarious purposes, overriding the state laws. Valuable land will be sold or leased entirely,” tweeted PML-N AJK chapter secretary general Chaudhry Tariq Farooq.

Naila Altaf Kayani, a social and political activist, tweeted: “At a time when the world is grappling with the ravages of climate change, reports that [the] AJK Government is contemplating establishing special tourism zones in highlands are disturbing. Our highlands are so far safe from human intervention. If allowed, it’ll play havoc with biodiversity.”

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2022