Sarmoli in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh bags best tourism village award

Pithoragarh: The picturesque Sarmoli village in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district on Wednesday was awarded as the best tourism village in the country.

The award consisting of a gold medal and a citation was given by the Union Tourism Ministry to Malika Virdi, the Sarpanch of Sarmoli Van Panchayat, at a function held at Bharat Mandapam auditorium in New Delhi.

Virdi initiated the process of village tourism promotion at Sarmoli, which is located in Munsiyari sub-division, through an NGO called Himalayan Ark in 2016. She is also the director of the NGO.

"The award is an honour of all the residents of Sarmoli village, especially those who believe in community-based tourism," Virdi said.

"I think the village got the award as our model of tourism was based on the rich cultural heritage of the region, natural landscape and rural lifestyle," she said soon after receiving the award.

The selection of Sarmoli village for the award is significant as it was selected out of a total of 750 applications, Virdi said.

"The credit for this success goes to the entire village," she said.

About 50 families are directly involved in home stay tourism in the village, besides over 30 other families of taxi drivers, tourist guides and shopkeepers selling local artefacts and agri produce, she said.

Home stay facilities in the village have received 700 tourists since 2016 and generated a revenue of more than Rs 50 lakh till date, she said.