Establishing Tourism Police Force & Tourism Authority under study

LAHORE: On the direction of Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar, an emergency meeting was chaired by Special Assistant to CM for Information and Tourism Hasaan Khawar, to improve administrative matters at tourist destinations in the province.

The meeting discussed various factors responsible for the Murree tragedy and a future action plan was chalked out. A three-member committee comprising Additional Secretary Tourism Sadaf Zafar, GM Operations Asim Raza and Project Manager Waqas Malik was also formed in the wake of the Murree tragedy.

This committee will present its recommendations for averting incidents like Murree tragedy in next 48 hours, apart from giving suggestions regarding controlling the pressure of tourists. The committee will review the mechanism of hotel registration, rents and other related matters and prepare its recommendations. A comprehensive report will also be prepared on the law on prevention of overcharging by hotels and the status of its effective implementation.

The SACM on Tourism Hasaan Khawar also sought a report from the committee on suggestions and implementation of traffic planning during peak season in Murree. He directed the committee to devise SOPs for working out a mechanism to issue timely and effective travel advisory for tourists keeping in view the travel warnings forwarded by Meteorological department.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022