Category: BUSINESS

Srinagar: Amidst the overwhelming tourist footfall this year, Kashmir tourism has added one more feather in its cap. Kachri Mohalla, a picturesque village in world famous Dal Lake has been developed as the floating village with home stay facilities.

The picturesque habitation nestled amidst the waters of the lake between Zabarwan and Kohimaran hills has made it to world tourism map. Conceived as the model tourist village, Kachri Mohalla a small village is being flagshipped as a tourism destination fully equipped with the state of the art facilities.

The Kachri Mohalla was developed as a Model village comprising home-stay and other facilities by Indian Army with support of some government departments. This would be a revolutionary transition for in influx of tourism towards inlands of Dal Lake. Subsequently government of Jammu and Kashmir would undertake five more hamlets for developing as Model Village.

The location is away from congestion and overcrowding which leads a peaceful, natural, serene homely stay. Experts said this would be major boost to tourism industry, employment generation and upliftment of the society.

According to official of the Indian Army,  who looked after the development of Kachri mohalla into model village, “the Jetty or Ghat has been developed near the destination and the houses of village have been painted to give aesthetic taste to the onlookers.”

“We also undertook the leveling of the ground and plantation drive. The labour involved in face-lifting the neighborhood was all from the locality and that has also helped in providing employment avenues for local population.”

The area has been declared as plastic free. Bestowed with the serene beauty and calm, the destination is projected as one of the better home stay abode in the valley as the place is away from the congestion and crowded commercial places. As the valley has recently seen the full occupancy of accommodation across the major tourist destinations, it is believed that the place is going emerge as a major crowd puller in Dal Lake.

“Conventionally the place has been almost cut off from the city for the lack of proper road connectivity. The development of the area as a model village will definitely help in proper connectivity with city on modern lines “, says Muhammad Afzal Moti, a local resident from Kachri Mohalla.  Moti further says, that the project has given the local population a ray of hope for better life.

Since the place is bestowed with natural landscape, the culture and tradition exhibited in the village provides on hands experience of local and natural lifestyle. Apart from having insiders feel in the village, there are many things tourists can indulge in. Angling, boating and swimming are another activities the people can enjoy from in the village.

As the houses in the locality glow in same colour for their “painted roofs and similar walls”, the beauty of the village serves a treat for the eyes of the visitors, who approach towards the village on water jetty. This is really a new look of the area. It is extraordinarily amazing! I have come here for a photoshoot, says a Majid Ali, a college student from neighboring town Pampore.

While the village is being projected as a major tourist attraction, local inhabitants are optimistic about future of the village. “They will come here, stay, buy consumables, handicrafts and our services. And this will surely help in generation of the employment in the area,” hopes Tasaduq, a young local.

Experts believe that the village with humble economic and educational parameters would see the boost in socio-economic indicators with robust tourism activity.

As the jetties with tourists move across lake from Boulevard to Kachri mohalla, the development of the floating village inside Dal lake is seen as an act of empowerment in the area. As the tourism activities picks up, the area will see more happiness and prosperity, believe the experts.

As Kachri mohlla emerges as the first model tourist village in  Dal, Tourism department along with other government agencies are mulling to develop four more such villages around the water body to increase the tourism avenues in the valley.

Srinagar Municipality Corporation has recently announced the development of cycle tracks in the area. According to an official from the corporation, the cycle track will come up under the smart city programme in the area and would cater to long pending demand of adventurists and cyclists from the city. The paddling activity in the area will add to the projected hustle and bustle around the lake.

Tourism community too is feeling buoyed by the tourism related developments in the area. People from the trade believe that it would provide more options of accommodation and sightseeing for tourists. They believe that such projects should be taken in other parts of the valley too.

While the boats and jetties  steer towards the interior neighbourhoods of Dal, tourism activities in Kachri mohalla, the first floating village of the valley are gaining momentum.

NASIR YOUSUFI

SRINAGAR: As the valley witness bumper production of milk over the past years, the dairy farmers have taken to production of nature based home made dairy products. Be it curd, butter, ghee or cheese, the demand for these home preparations trends in urban Kashmir.

Equipped with two large canes, a man juggles door to door early morning in a distant village of South Kashmir. Most of the households scattered over a picturesque hamlet at Ladhu in south Kashmir’s Pulwama produce surplus milk. Ghulam Mohammad Lone , a middle aged milk vendor from adjacent locality regularly collects the surplus yield from the village. Lone does not resell the raw milk but he uses it to make paneer for the market. Lone says, He has found a new line to earn a livelihood.

Lately hundreds of dairy farmers are engaged in the production of homemade dairy products in the valley. Owing to the increased demand coupled with surplus yield, dairy farmers find extra cash in homemade milk products.

While demand for dairy produce across the country is growing, the price of milk and allied products across Jammu and Kashmir is also picking up. Seeing the grass greener, many farmers across the valley have taken to the produc-tion of homemade dairy products to capitalize on the increased demand.

Thirty kilometers away from Lone’s home, 45 year old Abdul Ahad Bhat pushes curd laden bicycle through subur-ban Srinagar. Every day, the old aged Bhat , flaunting a trimmed grey beard paddles twice through the lanes and by lanes in Ishber and Shalimar. While on the evenings, he purchases loads of raw milk from the households, Bhat spends the whole mornings in supplying the ‘Zamdud’ or curd to the market.

My single daughter and an elderly wife spend hours together to process the days collection. After boiling the milk for hours together, they distribute milk among ‘ vaer’ or earthen matka of different sizes and 15 litre buckets. After adding a pinch of ferment, the pots are left overnight to get the curd, says the septuagenarian.

Five year back, I used to sell raw milk in the market. But as the competition increased due to surging production, I switched to curd making. There is a good demand for curd. I sell about 100 units of curd packed pots every day, says Bhat, while delivering the value added milk to roadside eatery adjacent to a famous tourist spot, Mughal garden Shalimar.

The contribution of the dairying sector to the national income is invaluable. This sector helps in increasing the crop production by providing the drag power, organic manure and cash income on a regular basis,” said the experts. Ex-perts also say that it is very easy to produce milk in a green land like Kashmir.

Not too far from Shalimar , Mohmmad Aslam Khatana a middle aged man from Dara village has taken to the pro-duction of Ghee. Located in the foothills of Mahdev mountain peak, the remotest village in the Srinagar has good population of livestock. Area supplies hundreds of liters of milk to urban areas every day. Seeing the surplus sup-ply, like many others, Aslam has taken to the making of Desi ghee.

The increased level of health consciousness gradually creates a demand for the nature based food, the demand for homemade dairy products gets the boost.

A large number of customers prefer the home made dairy products. I usually sell the stock of homemade curd and butter within an hour in the morning. There is a growing demand for these dairy products. People often ask for these products. However, I can cater to few given the limited stock I get from a local dairy farmer. In particular, there is a dearth of desi ghee and butter in the market.

Towards the north, in Odina village of Bandipora, middle aged , Shakeela along with her husband , Mohammad Jaf-far Bhat runs a successful business of Cheese making. Within a few years, the family produces about a 300 kilograms of Cheese every day from hundreds of litres of surplus milk collected from cattle rearing households in the nearby villages. Like Shakeela, there are many dairy farmers who are taking to newer means of value addition to their pro-duce in the market.

“Jammu and Kashmir is producing 70 lakh litres of milk per day, also strengthening the public private partnerships, besides this Kashmir alone is producing 40 lakh litres of milk per day,” says Ms Purnima Mittal, Director Animal Husbandry Department Kashmir.she said Kashmir alone produces 40 lakh while as Jammu produces 30 lakh litres, respectively.

Surrounded by apple orchards, emanating mouth watering aroma, a habitation in Vakhoo from Kakapora area of Pulwama has come to lime light for good reasons. Catching on the special wood from poplars grown in the wetlands of the district, the village is a hub of manufacturing pencil slates. Supplying 70% of processed wood to the pencil industry in India, Vakhoo has carved a niche in preparing the basic raw material for the writing stuff, earning an epithet ‘Pencil village of India’

 Pencil slate manufacturing units in Vakhoo   from Kakpora Pulwama give any onlooker the feel  of an industrial area. As the village witnesses a great industrial activity for thousands of workers, men and women engage in the processing of Pencil wood from their houses , since most of the units engaged with the trade operate from the local houses.

The process starts with the growing and felling of special poplars  that fetch the basic ingredient ‘wood’ for the slates. Laden with right amount of moisture, that makes it fit for the making of pencil wood,

the kind of a special poplar trees grows in abundance in the wetlands around.  After shearing the trees into cut size logs, the finest of wood is selected to make the Planks. These planks are then trimmed into five millimeter thick slates of standard pencil size.

The process does not stop here. After it has been seasoned into a particular size, the slates undergo a cycle of quality checks, ensuring the removal of knots if any and smoothing of rough edges. It is only after drying these slates stacked in a tall and wider ring patterns, the half processed pencils are ready to be packed. Packed  800 pieces in a bunch, these slates are dispatched in large nylon bags  to the respective destinations outside Kashmir says Mubashir Ahmad, a unit owner from the village, while explaining how these units process the wood for the pencil  industry in India.

Village supplies more than 70% of processed wood to pencil industry in India. Our main buyer is Hindustan pencils , the maker of  Natraj says, Manzoor Ahmad Allaie, pencil slate manufacturer and President of Pencil Manufacturing unit holders union, Kashmir. Off late, we have started to get orders from many Multi National Companies within and outside India, informs an enthusiastic entrepreneur Manzoor.

Apart from adding to the exchequer of Kashmir, the trade is a generous job creator. Large number of workers local as well as non locals, both men and women are employed in these units. Barkat Saw Mills owned by Feroz Ahmad has hundreds of people on its payrolls. “My unit provides job to about 200 people throughout the year”, says another unit holder , Firdous Ahmad. “I am happy that our endeavor is helping educated and unemployed youth to earn a respectable livelihood”,Firdous adds.

Women workers have their due share in the manufacturing activity. Along with the male counterparts,  a sizeable number of educated young girls are dispensing their services stacking, drying , packing the pencil slates. Keeping the records and operating the computers, some girls engage in the official activities in these units. “Despite being a college dropout, I earn a handsome monthly salary ”, says a content Shaheena, employed in one of the pencil slate manufacturing unit in Vakhoo.

Started decades ago, the pencil village in Pulwama can become the economic hub in the valley, provided  proper and sustained attention at administration level is paid to the trade, says Nissar Ahmad Sheikh, Vice President, Federation Chamber of Industries Kashmir. “Twenty four hour electricity supply, provision of Government or personal land to the pencil slate manufacturing unit holders, Hassle free documentation and tax exemption are can be major encouragement to this budding industry”, says Nissar.

“Since this  school allied industry, creates almost five thousand jobs directly and more than ten thousand indirectly, government should actively think to downsize the present  GST from 12% slab to 5% slab applicable to essential goods”, Nissar demands.

According to some entrepreneurs from the village, lack of land to expand the operations is another hiccup in this potential job creating business. “There is large portion of government owned land vacant, adjacent to my unit. If provided on lease or purchase basis, I would have to double the employee size of my unit, since  large number of orders from many MNC’s are pending for the want of expansion of unit operations”, claims Manzoor Allaie.

The recent statement from the top officer of the district  Raghu Ranjan, Deputy Commissioner, Pulwama has encouraged us, says hopeful Manzoor. Deputy Commissioner , while speaking to the media  recently had announced that the village will be soon officially declared as the ‘Pencil village of India’.