PESHAWAR
The second Snow Sports Festival for the promotion of tourism and snow sports at Gabeen Jabba, a beautiful tourist spot in Swat Valley, a paradise of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, ended with great success.
Peshawar grabbed the Wushu competition while Malakand bagged the second position. Additional Deputy Commissioner Riaz Ali Khan and RSO Malakand Division Kashif Farhan presented medals to the athletes and distributed cash prizes.
Provincial coach Rehmat Gul was also present. Gabeen Jabba Sports Festival was inaugurated by Deputy Commissioner Swat Junaid Khan. Additional Deputy Commissioner Irfan Ali Khan, officers of district administration and other departments were also present on the occasion. Pashto singers Zarsanga, Waheed Achakzai and Shahid Malang performed brilliantly during the closing ceremony while President Pride of Performance award winner Zardad Bulbul and his team presented humorous skits and enthralled the sitting spectators.
Apart from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, male and female tourists from Punjab and Kashmir also came for the festival. Stalls of traditional Swat food, shawls, handicraft and other traditional handmade things were also put on display.
Pashto singers also continued to perform traditional and local music. Stalls of various handicrafts including various types of traditional food have been set up at the festival. Special arrangements have been made for families and children.
A play land and jumping boom boom areas were also developed for the children where they enthusiastically participated. DC Junaid Khan said that in the light of the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan and the directives of Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, steps are being taken for the promotion and development of tourism in Swat with the aim of informing people all over the world about the beauty and features of this region.
He said that the number of tourists is increasing day by day which is a great achievement for us. It has also been presented to the world where tourists are coming. This is the second largest tourism resort after Malam Jabba.
Teams from Kashmir, Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan were also invited to this festival during the snow sports, including snow skiing, snow board, paragliding, and motor-gliding. He said that Gabeen Jabba is a unique place for tourism.
Camping pods have been set up and Snow Festival has great potential in Gabeen Jabba with six different skiing slopes have been identified and would be developed through a special allocation in the next ADP. A tourism resort will be set up at the top of the Gabeen Jabba.
He said that local snow sports would be highlighted globally for which plans are being made and hoped that Prime Minister Imran Khan would fulfill the dreams of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan.
Steps are being taken for this, including construction of roads leading to the tourist areas. Malakand, Peshawar, Hazara, Dera Ismail Khan and a large number of athletes from different districts including Kohat, Mardan took part in it.
In the Wushu event Saeed won the gold medal, followed by Haseeb of DIKhan. Irfan won the gold medal in 70 kg while Salman of Malakand won the silver medal. Omar of Peshawar won gold in 60 kg and Huzaifa of DI Khan won silver medal. Zaruli of Peshawar won gold in 65kg, Umair of Malakand won silver, Abid won gold in 56kg, Furqan won silver medal.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Riaz Ali Khan said that the success of the festival is due to hard efforts of the Deputy Commissioner Junaid Khan and RSO Kashif Farhan. On the occasion, President of Provincial Wushu Association Rehmat Gul Afridi and Secretary Najamullah Safi congratulated DC Swat Junaid Khan and Regional Sports Officer Kashif Farhan on the successful organization of sports and cultural activities in Swat.
