ZIRO, 17 Nov: Ziro valley has the potential to attract more tourists and can be another Scotland in India if certain basic parameters from the tourism point of view are put into place, said Telangana Special Chief Secretary Shalini Mishra during her visit here in Lower Subansiri district on Thursday.
Mishra, who is on a two-day visit to the district, said that “the unique Apatani civilisation should not be made to be erased from the world in face of rapid commercialisation,” and suggested preparing a “a pilot project or community-maintained typical Apatani houses in the villages, constructed with locally available materials but fitted with modern kitchens and toilets, making them fit for tourists to stay.”
She also suggested “uniform painting of the tin sheet roofs of the houses in the valley to give a pleasing sight of the low-lying houses in the valley,” and establishing “neat and clean coffee shops in the villages where the travelling tourists could rest and relax.”
The special chief secretary also suggested constructing a new museum and a crafts centre “at a location where tourists could get firsthand information of the valley and purchase locally manufactured items from the same venue instead of buying tribal arts and artefacts from private vendors.”
It may be mentioned here that the present crafts centre at SSB Gate in Hapoli had been constructed way back in 1959, so also the district museum in Hapoli.
Mishra, accompanied by her husband and IAS officer Ajay Mishra, visited the famed Shivlinga in Kardo, the state’s lone free-range poultry farm in Old Ziro, the Naara Aba Kiwi Winery, Siikhe and Seeh Lakes, Apatani villages, Ranth Piisa in Hari village, and the Meadow Muse homestay.
The couple also visited the district museum and the crafts centre. (DIPRO)
