NEW TEHRI: The Uttarakhand Cabinet met for the first time today in a floating restaurant on the picturesque Tehri lake as a strategy to promote tourism there.

The ministers led by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, wearing life jackets, gave their nod to 12 decisions aboard the ‘Floating Marina’, a boat which served as the restaurant in the middle of the lake which was spruced up specially for the unique event.

Chaired by the Chief Minister, a dozen major decisions were taken in the meeting with a focus on tourism and to put the State’s natural resources to better use, State Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik told the media.

They included a decision on allocating tourism the status of an industry and developing 13 new tourist destinations, one each in all 13 districts of the State under a scheme named ’13 districts 13 destinations’, he said. (AGENCIES)