By: Mool Raj
Ranked among the top meadows of Kashmir, Yousmarg is still the least visited one.
Situated around 50 kms away from the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, Yousmarg, a beatific hill station, is located in the western part of Kashmir Valley.
Surrounded by, almost yearly snow cladded Pir Panjal mountain range, this landscape is a home to varied plants and animals among which young pine nurseries are the prominent ones.
A small dam in the vicinity of the Yousmarg Mainland adds beauty to the landscape and is also a fishing spot for the locals in particular and for the tourists as well.
The tourist hotspot of Yousmarg is the river Doodh Ganga that flows through high altitude peaks, often designated as a gem of the Yousmarg tourist place, making this place more alluring and appealing.
Around half an hour trek from the Yousmarg acreage to the river gives trekkers a picturesque view of wild alpine forest that surrounds the pavement from Yousmarg Mainland downwards to the river Doodh Ganga.from the river Doodh Ganga, 5 km trek to the North-East leads to another eye-catching lake named as Nilnag that is located in the village Gogji Pathri. Furthermore, a 10 km trek from the river Doodh Ganga leads the tourists to an oval shaped meadow called Sangh-e-Safad, (white rock) which is another spot of tourist attraction, besides Haigen (4 km from Yousmarg Mainland) and Lidder meadows.
Despite all these scenic views, trekking spots, fishing grounds and much more, Yousmarg is often painted as the most underrated picnic spot of the Kashmir Valley. Even though, being ranked among the top meadows of Kashmir Valley, Yousmarg witnesses less tourist footprints when compared to other meadows of the Valley.
Travel triangle.com places this meadow at No. 12 as one of the 12 terribly underrated destinations in India. Anshal Sharma, an independent blogger, places Yousmarg at No 05 among surprisingly underrated summer destinations of India on Tripoto.com.
Another independent blogger, Atipriya Kaur, in her article dated 24th August 2015 on Skyscanner.co.in ranked Doodh Pathri at No 04 and Nilnag Lake at No 12 as lesser known and unexplored destinations in Kashmir.
The Yousmarg Development Authority was set up by the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation, with the prime aim and responsibility of promoting and developing the Yousmarg meadow.
Since then, the Yousmarg Development Authority has done commendable work by constructing a few captivating huts, public conveniences, one kiosk, pony tracks and a couple of parking lots. But when these developmental works are compared to other likewise tourist destinations of Kashmir like Gulmarg and Pahalgam, this commendable job turns into an ignoble one. Few huts, few public conveniences, a lone Kiosk and countable guest houses in comparison to Gondola ride, paragliding and Skiing at Gulmarg and a grand Amusement Park, official fishing park, around 10,000 budgeted accommodations with 318 registered guest houses, Asia’s top most Golf course at Pahalgam are as different as chalk and cheese.
In consensus with Jammu and Kashmir tourism officials, I truly believe that Yousmarg has a high potential of tourist attraction in parallel to Gulmarg and Pahalgam but has not been garnered well by the responsible authorities because of some unknown reasons. Amusement park, in parallel to Pahalgam, could be one of those potential garnering activities. A Gondola ride from Yousmarg mainland to Doodh Pathri or to Nilnag or to Sangh-e-Safad may prove highly attractive and appealing to nature lovers and may be helpful in increasing tourist flow to the meadow.
.As per the Jammu and Kashmir tourism officials, the best time to visit Yousmarg is between May and September, but I truly believe that Yousmarg has a potential to grab tourists throughout the year just as Gulmarg does. Yousmarg gets a heavy snowfall during winters and some of the tourist spots of this meadow like Sangh-e-Safad remain snow clad throughout the year. So there are ample possibilities of making Yousmarg a hotspot for organising winter games like skiing and others.
Need of the hour is to bring back the lost glory of this meadow, the glory of Jesus, the glory of alpine forest and the glory of snow-clad mountains. Much has already been done but much more needs to be done and could be done. Efforts should be made to bring Yousmarg at par with other highly remarkable and highly noticed tourist hotspots of Kashmir Valley.
This could be done by collective efforts of the tourist officials, businessmen and locals. The gem has lost its shine and lustre over time and needs active and timely polishing.
The author is Environmental Science Lecturer hail from Village Bhagota Distt & Teh Doda. Views are his personal