Tosa Maidan: Kashmir meadow to become adventure tourism hub

Once used by the Indian Army, Indian Air Force, Border Security Force and other para-military Forces as a shooting practice range and therefore out of bounds for the people till 2014, the meadow of Tosa Maidan, is set to become a hub of adventure tourism in Kashmir.

It can be reached by driving for about 2.5 hours (70 km) from Srinagar international airport and almost the same time (65 km) from Budgam railway station. The meadow serves as a junction of several trekking routes in central Kashmir’s Budgam district. Tosa Maidan’s potential for tourism is also understandable since it is located 13 km away from the Ramayana village of Sitaharan that too is being developed as an ancient heritage site.

Centuries ago, shepherds from neighbouring countries visited the meadow for grazing their cattle. The Mughal emperors used it to reach Poonch in Jammu and onward to Punjab as it offers the shortest route to the Indian plains. The meadow and its surrounding deodar forest measure about three miles in length and 1.5 miles in width. In summer one can see nomadic Gujjar tribes living in camps to graze their cattle.

panoramic view

“It has more potential for adventure tourism… various treks are being explored”, Azad Yaseen, an officer of the Tourism Department told Awaz-the Voice. He said that several new tracks like Shonglipathri-Tosa Maidan are being identified. The Khansaheb area is yet another tourist attraction close to the meadow. The officials said that plans to attract tourists are being lined up strictly keeping in view the preservation of the biodiversity of the meadow.

Early summer would see the black-topping of the kaccha road from Tos Maidan to Sitaharan, the official said. In winter, the meadow is under heavy snow and therefore remains cut off from the rest of the Valley.

On way to Sitaharan village, one can see the pointers to an upcoming ‘Base Camp’ put up by the Tourism department. A building to house the Tourist Reception Center (TRC) is being completed that in due course will provide information and facilities for boarding and lodging to adventure tourists.

Picture from August 2022: then Deputy Commissioner, Director Tourism

Village Sitaharan is among 75 Tourist villages to be developed across J&K.

For two years, the authorities have been celebrating the Tosa Maidan festival to attract tourists to Sithahran. The festivals included cultural programmes, and car and bike rallies. Adventure sports lovers even from abroad have started visiting the area since it was opened to the public, six years ago.

The Tourism department is also holding awareness programmes with locals in the Khag area for involving them in livelihood opportunities that will come their way. The locals are being guided to offer homestay facilities to tourists, young men are being trained as tourist guides and pony wallahs are being registered for giving a ride to the tourists.

Bike Rally

According to Azad Yaseen around 250 houses in different villages of the Khag have been identified for homestay At least 20 tourist guides have already been registered with Licenses, while the process of providing licenses to Ponywallahs was also under process.

Tosa Maidan was being used by the Army, Indian Air Force, and the BSF as a firing range to conduct Artillery firing since 1964. After it was decided to shift the artillery fifing range, the army conducted a thorough search for unexploded shells and explosives for two years.

ALSO READ Sitaharan: Kashmir's Ramayana village awaits development, tourists

It was the PDP-BJP Government led by Mehbooba Mufti that decided to develop Tosa Maidan as a tourist destination. Today it’s being developed by the Tosa Maidan Tourism Development Authority.