Bandeppa Kashempur

BIDAR: The State Government is committed to developing Bidar into an international tourist centre, Minister for Agriculture and district in-charge Bandeppa Kashempur said here on Wednesday.

He was addressing a citizens' consultative committee meeting on tourism development in the district.

"There are ample opportunities for the development of tourism in the district. We will use them and change the face of the district," Mr. Kashempur said. He said tourism development would be in the public-private partnership mode.

He said the International Society for Krishna Consciousness had offered to donate Rs. 5 crore to beautify the historic Zarni Narasimha temple in Bidar. Endowment Minister B. Nagaraj Shetty would visit Bidar and announce the Government's stand on the development of temples as tourist attractions in the district, he said. The State Government was also planning to organise a Bidar Utsav this year and this would hopefully evolve into an annual event, he said.

A team of experts to guides and accompany tourists in the district would be constituted. He said Rs. 1 crore would be spent to set up a sound and light show at the Bidar fort. Minister for Transport Cheluvaraya Swamy had agreed to consider operating package tour bus services from Hyderabad, he added. The State had sent a proposal to the Centre seeking Rs. 9 crore to develop tourism in Bidar.

"The National Highways Authority of India has sent a proposal to the Centre asking for Rs. 40 crore to develop the Nanded-Bidar Highway. The centre has released Rs. 13 crore and the remaining amount will be released soon," Narsingrao Suryavanshi, MP, said. He said Bidar did not figure among the list of important tourist attractions in the State .

Quazi Arshad Ali, MLC, demanded that the Government come up with a Rs. 100-crore package which could be spent over ten years. He urged the Minister to develop a garden in the Karanja reservoir and build a musical fountain on the lines of the Krishna Raja Sagar reservoir in Mysore.

Archaeology Deputy Superintendent S.S. Nayak sought the help of the Government in beautifying the lake inside the Bidar fort. "Basava Kalyan will soon develop as an international centre for tourist attraction. We will also develop a tourist circuit joining other important towns ," Deputy Commissioner Munish Moudgil said. He said the district administration would write to the Railway Ministry to extend the Amritsar-Nanded Sachkhand Express train to Bidar and Hyderabad.

Citizens suggested forming an empowered committee to promote tourism, creating a post of a tourism development officer in the district, laying of a footpath along the length of the city, starting work on underground drainage system in Bidar and Basava Kalyan under the World Bank-aided hygiene scheme, and constructing a flyover near the Gandhi Gunj Railway Gate.

Zilla Panchayat president Anil Bhusare, City Municipal Council president Chandrashekar Patil Gadagi, Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Jitendra Nayak and others were present.

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