Uri’s Salamabad centre set for tourism reboot

Suhail Khan

Uri, Sep 19:  The Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department has taken over the Salamabad Trade Facilitation Centre in Uri, formally ending its nearly two-decade association with cross-LoC trade and repurposing the sprawling facility for border tourism.

The decision, tourism officials said, gives a new institutional purpose to a site that had been lying silent since April 2019, when cross-LoC trade through Salamabad was suspended in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack.

“The department has initiated the process to assess the existing infrastructure at Salamabad and work out a plan for its development as a tourism facility,” a senior Tourism Department official told Kashmir Convener.

Existing facilities at the centre, including accommodation with several rooms, a stone-built cafeteria, a park and a viewpoint, are being considered for tourism use, the official said, adding that the focus would include border tourism and access to designated viewpoints along the Line of Control (LoC).

The trucks stopped rolling years ago, but the gates of the Salamabad Trade Facilitation Centre have not been shut. They are now being opened for a different kind of visitor.

A large panoramic board still greets visitors at the entrance. But inside, silence hangs heavy, broken only by the rush of the wind. The massive pillars of the cargo halls have begun to rust, the weighbridge counter lies under a layer of dust and its machinery is broken.

A weathered sign at a distance still reads “P.O.K. Drivers’ Rest Room” — a reminder of the years when trucks from across the LoC rolled into these premises.

Cross-LoC trade via Salamabad began in October 2008 as part of a broader series of confidence-building measures between India and Pakistan. It followed the 2005 launch of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service, which allowed divided families to reconnect.

The trade operated on a barter-based mechanism, distinct from conventional international trading systems, and for over a decade, Salamabad became a byword for cross-LoC commerce in Kashmir.

The Government of India suspended cross-LoC trade through Salamabad and Chakan-da-Bagh, citing concerns over alleged misuse of the routes for illegal activities, including the movement of weapons, narcotics and counterfeit currency. Commercial activity at Salamabad came to an end. The buildings stayed. The facilities stayed. But the trade never returned.

National Conference MLA Dr Sajad Shafi, who pushed for the conversion of the facility, said the idea had been on his mind since the government was formed.

“It’s a virgin place. We want to bring Uri on the tourism map. Initially it was conceived as a tourist facilitation centre, but later when trade began it was handed over to the industries department. Then the situation changed and trade came to a halt,” Dr Shafi told Kashmir Convener.

“Trade has been shut for years now. Under the leadership of Omar Abdullah, we planned to bring three things to Uri — border tourism and pilgrimage tourism,” he said.

Pointing to an existing stone-built cafeteria, he said the existing infrastructure can be put to use for visitors. “People can live and stay here. We already have infrastructure here with rooms and other facilities.”

Abdul Ahad, former General Secretary of Trade in Uri, welcomed the move and recalled the historic significance of the route. “This is a heritage road, which used to be called the Jhelum Valley Road. Some part of that went to PoK, and to reconnect that, trade used to take place and this place was abuzz. This is a positive thought to convert it into a tourism place,” Ahad said.

For the people of Uri, Salamabad was never just another government facility. It was part of a larger story of the LoC, linking commerce with one of the region’s most significant confidence-building initiatives.

That story has now turned a page. The name may carry history, but the function has changed — from traders crossing the LoC to tourists looking at it from a viewpoint.