After Dal and Nigeen lakes, the Manasbal Lake in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district has also embraced water sports.
Both Dal and Nagin lakes in Srinagar are the top water skiing destinations in Jammu & Kashmir.
As per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), water skiing is going on in Manasbal. The initiative is aimed at boosting tourism in the district.
“The water skiing began on September 1 and will continue till the end of the month. Three batches from across the country participate and each batch contains 20 participants. Hence, 60 adventure sportspersons got training in 3 different batches,” an official told KNO.
Anjali, a water skiing trainee, while talking to KNO said, “It feels great to be part of this adventurous sport; our coaches guide us very well.”
Rahul from Delhi said it was his first experience and he feels adventurous and refreshed. “Our batch started from September 1st and shall conclude on 10th,” he said.
Saba, a trainee from Srinagar said, “Since it was started by IISM last year, it has become a good platform to unlock the potential of the youth. This also boosts tourism of Manasbal.”
An official said that water skiing was started by the Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering (IISM) last year. “We trained 60 participants in two batches including trainees from various states of the country,” he said.
This year we intend to train 60 participants in 3 batches with 10 days for each batch, the official said, adding, “In the upcoming events, we will try our best to engage more and more youths in the sports to boots Manasbal tourism.”—(KNO)