Mir Iqbal
Srinagar, Feb 1: The much-hyped Wi-Fi project to provide high-speed wireless internet to the tourists at famous tourist resort Gulmarg continues to be in doldrums as Government has failed to make it functional.
Considered as one of the highest Wi-Fi zones in the world at an altitude of over 4000 meters above sea level, the hi- tech project was first of its kind in State to provide tourists with global connectivity.
The project was supposed to provide internet to the tourists in main Gulmarg, Kongdoori and Apharwat reaches, covering an area of five square kilometers.
Besides connectivity, it was also supposed to provide warning system for the safety of tourists. Till now 32 lakhs of rupees have been spent on the project to procure costly equipments, including power backing system to ensure the functioning of the project even in minus 40 degrees.
Officials of Gulmarg Development Authority and Cable Car Corporation said that apart from providing internet facilities, the project was also equipped with latest equipments to alert the administration about natural calamities on time to make timely interventions to avert the major tragedies.
They said that the project was conceived, designed and implemented by the network design team from Directorate of Information Technology and Support System (IT & SS), University of Kashmir with bandwidth being provided by Software Technology Park of India (STPI).
Although, the Directorate of IT&SS KU claimed that the project was completed in a record time of four months, but it was never made functional till date.
Nazir Ahmad Mir, Chief Executive Officer, Gulmarg Development Authority admitted that the project was not working presently.
“We are re-launching the project in next few months and for that we have recently convened a meeting and it was decided to provide Wi-Fi services to hoteliers here, so that monthly rental can be earned from them,” Mir said.
Assistant Engineer, Mechanical, Cable Car Corporation, said they couldn’t manage the huge expenses including monthly rental which run in lakhs of rupees. “That was why the services were stopped. We have decided to involve more players like JKTDC, GDA, Cable Car Corporation, Tourism Department and private hoteliers to manage the huge expenses,” he said.
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