‘Pahalgam bustling with activity': Omar Abdullah shares buzzing scenes from Kashmir's terror-hit hill station

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Sunday that Pahalgam hill station in South Kashmir was 'bustling with activity' with tourists from various parts of the country competing for space with local picnickers. 

Abdullah shared pictures of crowded roads of the famed hill station in rainy weather on Sunday – exactly two months after the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam's Baisaran valley that killed 26 people, mostly tourists.

“The last time I was in Pahalgam I cycled through a market that was all but deserted. Today I came back to a Pahalgam that was bustling with activity. Tourists from various parts of the country competed for space with local picnickers who were enjoying the cool climate & rainy weather,” Abdullah said in a post on X

Tourism was badly affected in Pahalgam and beyond after the deadly April 22 terror attack. But tourism numbers have increased in last two weeks. Some locals that LiveMint spoke to said more tourists started coming to the Kashmir Valley after the inauguration of Kashmir's first Vande Bharat train earlier this month.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 6 inaugurated the first Vande Bharat Express train to Kashmir from Jammu after the completion of the 272-km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project.

Modi flagged off the train services from the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi(SMVD) railway station in Jammu's Katra to Srinagar, Kashmir. On the occasion, Modi also flagged off another train from Srinagar to Katra.

“It’s very satisfying to see the efforts my colleagues & I have been putting in slowly bearing fruit,” Omar said.