4 Jammu Redefining
Jammu Redefining
| March 9-March 22, 2014
A park in R.S. Pura
BY PARUL MAHAJAN
F you love being in the company
of lush green fields, towering
eucalyptus trees, and have
enough time to travel through the
countryside in an omnipresent
'tanga' (horse cart) and an appetite
for street food, you have to be in
Ranbir Singh (RS) Pura, one of the
prosperous sub-divisions located
27 km from Jammu district.
Named
after
Dogra
ruler
Maharaja Ranbir Singh, the dusty
town was a big business centre
before Independence, thanks to its
proximity with Sialkot and Jammu.
But Partition took away its prosperity. Today again, reaping dividends
of the ongoing peace process
between India and Pakistan, RS
Pura has emerged as one of the
hotspots on the border tourism
map.
As you approach RS Pura from
Jammu, colourful houses painted in
fluorescent colours attract your
attention. The newly-opened car
showrooms, food outlets, banks,
private schools, beauty parlours,
gymnasium, pool corners, smallsize malls and girls riding their twowheelers give you a feel of a countryside gone for a complete
makeover.
To keep pace with the growing
demands of tourism, the State
I
CMYK
Government has proposed a border
tourism development programme to
attract people to the border areas.
The tourism department wants to
divert pilgrim traffic, visiting Mata
Vaishno Devi shrine and Amarnath
cave, towards RS Pura. The move
will help generate more job opportu-
already attracting a huge rush of
people. Though the place cannot be
compared with the Wagah border
(in the absence of a formal parade
and flag-hoisting ceremony), the
demand is growing from all quarters
to make it a permanent tourist destination. The old railway station
fter Partition, RS Pura lost its lustre. The train
services between Sialkot and Jammu were
stopped. So was the road link. For the next 40
years it was in a total shock, only to be rejuvenated by
an incident in the summers of 1987. On June 26 that
year, Naib Subedar Bana Singh, a resident of Kadyal
village in RS Pura, received the highest wartime gallantry award, Param Veer Chakra.
A
nities for the locals and the tour
operators would be encouraged to
sell the complete package. The
State Government has also earmarked a sum of Rs 1.5 crore for
promoting border tourism.
Following the liberal policy of
allowing visitors to go near the international border without any formal
screening at the octroi post near
Suchetgarh village, the area is
building at the octroi post, where the
BSF has set up its offices and control room, is also a major source of
attraction for outsiders.
Keeping in mind the interest of
tourists, the BSF has arranged for
historic pictures depicting the role of
the paramilitary force in border
management. A separate r