The lush-green Baisaran meadow, set amid an endless sweep of pine-clad, stream-laced terrain, is still to come out of the shock of last April’s brutal militant attack.

The April 22, 2025, attack that killed 25 tourists and a local pony operator had brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war. The tensions have eased but the meadow’s continued closure keeps Pahalgam, one of Kashmir’s prime tourist spots, shrouded in eerie stillness.

The bigger worry is that Pahalgam might never be the same again. It might shift to a form of “militarised tourism”, marked by increased frisking, visible armed personnel presence, and constant surveillance.

Dozens of tourist resorts — including Baisaran, some 6km from Pahalgam town — were closed last year after the attack. Most were gradually reopened but Baisaran remains shut.

“Any decision to reopen Baisaran can be taken only at the top; but on the ground we are not well prepared,” an Anantnag police officer said.

“We might need to deploy at least one full company of personnel to secure the meadow, but we don’t have it. Instead, several paramilitary companies have been taken out for the elections in Bengal and other places.”

The officer said there was little hope of Baisaran being reopened for tourism until the completion of the 1.4km cable car service to the site.

“Ronmas Consultancy did the survey and work is expected to start in June. Before that, we should have a proper security set-up there. But the decision to reopen it will not be ours,” he said.

Officials said the attack had prompted heavier security deployments at more than a dozen places in Pahalgam. Worse, the shorter Bijbehara-Pahalgam road, which passes through congested villages, remains closed to tourists, laying waste to a tourism infrastructure worth hundreds of crores, from hotels to orchard-side juice stalls.

“Most of the tourism infrastructure in Pahalgam lies along this road. Scores of hotels have come up and many more are being built,” a hotelier said.

“Tourists now have to make a detour through Pahalgam town to reach these hotels, which is a strong disincentive. We have witnessed a tourist drought this year and can’t take it for another year.”

The shorter route, which this correspondent took, lays bare how, despite the lofty narrative, peace remains a mirage in Kashmir. At half-a-dozen points, police have been posted to identify and send back non-local tourists.

The tourism boom in Pahalgam before the attack had led to the number of hotels, guesthouses and homestays surge to 153, 143 and 228, respectively. Scores more are under construction.

An employee at an upscale “100-room hotel” said almost all the rooms were going empty these days.

A tourism official said a little over 4 lakh tourists visited Pahalgam over the past one year against the normal footfall of 12 to 15 lakh.

“Many of the visitors have been day tourists, who return by evening,” he said.

The police officer said external events — such as the Red Fort blast and the Iran war — too had cast a shadow on tourism just as signs of a revival were beginning to appear.

Pahalgam is home to more than 5,000 pony operators. Apart from hoteliers, they have been the worst sufferers.

“It (2025) was a year we wish we could erase from our memory. The pain of losing so many lives was followed by an excruciating struggle for survival as tourist inflow dropped to a trickle,” said Bashir Ahmad, who heads an association of pony wallas.

“Tourists are willing to visit but their first question remains the same: Is Baisaran open? Many left disillusioned on finding it closed.”

Another pony walla said the Betaab Valley was the only place in these parts, apart from Pahalgam town, to have remained open throughout the past one year.

“All other places are opened for a few weeks and closed for another few. We don’t know how long this will continue,” he said.

Pony wallas reluctantly revealed yet another ordeal — they had to endure weeks of questioning from those investigating last year’s attack.

“Please don’t talk about it, we have had enough trouble. Our families practically went hungry while we were being questioned,” he said.

Delhi couple Mihir and Varsha, however, offered a glimmer of hope, indicating that Pahalgam’s unrivalled beauty remains its biggest draw.

“We were nervous coming to this place but the beauty here put us at ease the moment we arrived,” Varsha said. Mihir echoed her.