Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha today inaugurated the Brig. S S Kahlon Artificial Sports Climbing Wall at Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports (JIM&WS) at Pahalgam.
Congratulating JIM&WS for being the first institute for building an IFSC standard Sports Climbing Wall in North India, the Lt Governor said that the artificial wall will not only cater to athletes from the UT but will have sufficient provisions in place to train athletes coming from other states/UTs.
While speaking on the occasion, the Lt Governor observed that the UT administration has been continuously promoting different activities of sports across J&K. He remarked that the construction of the Sport Climbing wall has added a new dimension to the training standards, besides giving a boost to Adventure Tourism in the region.
The Lt Governor said that the UT administration has initiated ‘Everyday Sports, Sports for All’ campaign to encourage youths to participate in sports activities. “This year we are trying to connect at least 17 lakh youth to various disciplines of sports in the UT”, he added.
Referring to the achievement of Sh. Mahfooz Ilahi Hajam from Kulgam & Sh. Mohd Iqbal Khan from Kupwara for creating history by scaling Mount Everest, the Lt Governor said that their courageous expedition has made whole Jammu and Kashmir proud and it will inspire the youth of UT to take up mountaineering, adventure and winter sports as a career.
The Lt Governor in his address observed that the Institute has a rich history of 38 years in the field of mountaineering and expressed hope that it will encourage youth to participate in these adventure sports activities and the UT in future will produce athletes who will be among the best in the country.
Noting that the Institute is offering advanced courses of Mountaineering at very low fee structures, the Lt Governor stressed that wide publicity should be given for reaching out to all interested and talented youths. “UT administration will provide all possible help to spread information about this Institute and to connect more and more people with mountaineering”, he assured.
Recalling the Winter Games held at Gulmarg in February this year, the Lt Governor announced that the next edition of Winter Games will be held in a few months with the same grandeur, giving the talented players a great platform to showcase their talents in winter sports.
Lauding the Mountaineers for doing remarkable work in environmental protection, the Lt Governor called on the institute to awaken consciousness among people to save nature from man-made destruction and also promote harmony between humans, animals, and nature.
Expressing his greetings on the occasion of 38th Raising Day of the Institute which was observed on October 25, the Lt Governor congratulated the Principal, staff and mountaineers for their contribution to nation-building.
The Lt Governor also inspected the various stalls of sports and snow equipment. Athletes from JIM&WS demonstrated their skills on the occasion. He also lauded the role of the institute in assisting district administration during medical emergencies in snow-bound areas.
Later, speaking on the damages suffered by farmers and apple growers due to untimely rain and snow, the Lt Governor said that the government has declared it a natural calamity and soon relief money will be distributed to all eligible farmers.
Earlier, Colonel Ishwar Singh Thapa, Principal JIM&WS informed the gathering that the Artificial Sports Climbing Wall is the tallest in North India, besides having the tallest functional zip line. The wall has been named after Brig. S S Kahlon, the first principal of the institute. He was also present on the occasion.
Former Principals, Prominent Mountaineers, Officers, and Instructors associated with the institute were present on the occasion.
DIG SKR, DC Anantnag, SSP Anantnag and other senior officials of district administration were also present.