Parliament panel urges enhanced security at J&K tourist spots with CCTV, audits

A parliamentary panel on home affairs has recommended a comprehensive security overhaul for tourist spots in Jammu and Kashmir. The panel calls for an integrated security and surveillance framework, including extensive CCTV coverage, centralized monitoring, and regular security audits.

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The committee appreciates the comprehensive security arrangements put in place by the Union Territory administration and the Jammu and Kashmir Police at Gulmarg and other major tourist and religious destinations...The committee, however, recommends that an integrated security and surveillance framework be developed for all major tourist destinations, incorporating comprehensive CCTV coverage, centralised monitoring facilities, regular vulnerability assessments and periodic security audits.

These recommendations come a year after a terrorist attack killed 25 tourists and a pony operator in Pahalgam. The panel emphasized the need for clear inter-agency standard operating procedures (SOPs) to be reviewed before each peak tourist season, ensuring a coordinated response to security threats.

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The committee further recommends that clear inter-agency standard operating procedures be prescribed and reviewed before every peak tourist season to ensure a coordinated and timely response to any security-related incident.

During an on-the-spot assessment, committee members visited Gulmarg and Sonmarg to review security arrangements. They also visited Drass and Kargil to evaluate border security management and the operational readiness of armed forces, interacting with personnel to understand border practices.

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Periodic joint security audits and vulnerability assessments should also be conducted, particularly before the commencement of the tourist season and the Yatra, to identify and address emerging security concerns.