Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha's administration has indefinitely shut more than half of the tourist destinations and trekking routes in Kashmir for visitors, citing security reasons in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror strike.

The move has dealt a fresh blow to the government’s all-is-well narrative and upset the initiatives over the years to develop alternative destinations.

The government has closed 48 of the 87 officially recognised tourist destinations in Kashmir, which include some of the best emerging tourist spots, established resorts and famous eateries.

The reason, officials said, is to increase the deployment of security personnel at the more crowded and well-known tourist destinations such as Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Sonamarg and Srinagar. Had all tourist destinations been open, the security forces — the army, police, the CRPF and the BSF — would have been spread thin, the officials said.

As militants had largely not harmed tourists over the years, the administration had been encouraged to explore newer destinations in Kashmir and deploy fewer security personnel for the safety of tourists.

The Pahalgam attack, in which 25 tourists and a local ponywallah were killed, has, however, put fresh strain on the security infrastructure and necessitated increased deployments. The decision to shut dozens of destinations will help ease the burden on forces given the fresh challenge, the sources said.

The move has not only called into question the government’s claims of normality in Kashmir but also caused a setback to the initiative to open multiple destinations other than those traditionally frequented by tourists. Last year was particularly good for Kashmir tourism, with over 30 lakh visitors flocking to the Valley.

The Jammu and Kashmir government in 2023 launched the SPREAD (Sustainable Promotion of Emerging Alternative Destination) project and had been working to secure multilateral and central funding for its success. In January, the Omar Abdullah government allocated ₹390 crore for tourism development for the 2025-26 financial year.

A tourism official said the border tourism initiative would suffer a major blow as premier emerging destinations — such as the Gurez Valley in Bandipora, the Bangus Valley in Kupwara and Kaman Post in Uri, all of which are on the LoC — would go off the tourism map.

The Gurez Valley received the “Best Offbeat Destination” tag from the Union tourism ministry in 2022 and its Dawar village was honoured with the “Best Tourism Village” award in the Gold category.

Among the 48 destinations that have been closed, 15 are in Srinagar — the summer capital and Kashmir’s nerve centre — suggesting that even places within the city are not safe for visitors.

Tourists in the past would avoid travel to Srinagar’s old city, the so-called ground zero of the Azaadi movement, but places like Jamia Masjid and Badamwari or eateries like JJ Foods at Aali Kadal and Hotel Kanaaz have received a steady flow of tourists in recent years. These too are now out of bounds for tourists.

The established destinations that have been shut for tourists include Yousmarg, Tousimaidan, Doodpathri, Aharbal, Kousarnag, the Sun temple in Kehribal and Verinag Garden.

The government has not specified for how long tourists would not be allowed to visit these places.

People associated with tourism in these places said the move would deal a debilitating blow to their livelihood.

Gurez resident Abdul Rahim Mir told The Telegraph: “I had invested ₹40 lakh on a wooden homestay and it was to come up this year. The attack has completely dried up tourists. We are ruined.”

Mir said hundreds of people were associated with tourism in Gurez, which witnesses a daily footfall of 500.

“Dozens of hotels and homestays had come up in our area and they were employing hundreds of youths. Many tents had also been pitched at several scenic places and tourists would stay there as well,” he said.

A tourism official played down the closure and said major tourist destinations like Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Sonamarg and the Dal Lake were open. He claimed that “a few offbeat locations, accounting for 4 to 5 per cent of the overall footfall, have been temporarily closed”.

“Tourists are welcome and all security measures are in place,” he said.