“Lack of development” and “unsustainable tourism” led to the tragedy in Murree?

What happened: From January 6 to 8, nearly 125,000 vehicles entered Murree as heavy snowfall took over the city. As a result, 21 people died due to their vehicles being covered in snow. Subsequently, the interior minister called the Pakistan Army, Rangers, and FC to conduct rescue operations as he claimed that only 1,000 cars were stranded on the snow-covered roads. CM Buzdar declared Murree calamity hit and imposed emergency in the police stations, hospitals, and rescue officials were called. Details: At the same time, the ISPR’s statement quoted by Dawn read,  “Heavy machinery from Murree, army engineer division and FWO are working without any pause to assist people who are stuck.”  The ISPR provided food and shelter to people affected by the snowfall. On the other hand, Twitterati called out the government for its claims for  tourism development  in the country. Mehr Husain, a journalist and an author, tweeted,  “This country offers nothing to its people and when they try, it leads to tragedy. This is the price for unsustainable tourism and lack of development.”  What you need to know: During the three years of its government, the PTI-led federal government has claimed that the tourism industry in Pakistan has boomed in its tenure. The Information and Broadcasting minister tweeted,  “Nearly one lakh vehicles have entered Murree. Rents of hotels and residencies have gone up many times. This increase in tourism shows an increase in prosperity and income of the common man. One hundred big companies have made a profit of Rs. 929 billion this year.” 

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