Baisaran open all year round, no curbs usually

At an all-party meeting in Delhi, officials told lawmakers on Thursday that the Baisaran meadow near Pahalgam town in Kashmir was not scheduled to be open to tourists till June, explaining that this was the reason for the absence of police and paramilitary presence at the site where 26 people were gunned down by terrorists earlier this week.

- Mir Ehsan

SRINAGAR:

They also said all tour operators, guides and hoteliers were given strict instructions to keep the local police informed about the movement of tourists, but did not do so.

But on Friday, tour operators, tourists, pony riders and local officials in Pahalgam said that the vast grassland spread over two miles is open throughout the year, and usually, no police nod is sought for tourists to walk (or take a pony) up the roughly 6 km stretch.

"For 20 years, I have been taking tourists up to the meadow. I have never required any permission from police or security forces. Now this place is visited by tourists even during winter," said Waheed Ahmad, president of the local pony riders association.