The first meeting of the Hyderabad Karnataka Tourism Advisory Committee under the chairmanship of Minister of State for IT and BT Priyank Kharge has decided to prepare a detailed action plan to tap the tourism potential to the hilt in the Hyderabad Karnataka region, which for the reasons best known to the authorities remained neglected despite having a rich repository of monuments, forts and religious centres.
Senior officials of the Tourism Department, including Secretary Naveenraj Singh, senior officials from the KSTDC, Jungle Resorts and Lodges, Director of the Tourism Department Manjula, along with 11 experts, including historians, and those working in the field of hospitality, tourism, adventure tourism participated in the meeting.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Kharge said that the Hyderabad Karnataka region was once ruled by the Rashtrakutas, the Bahmani sultanate, the Vijayanagar kings, and the Chalukyas. The region had played a crucial role in the development of Karnataka with the first known Kannada prose, “Kavi Raja Marga”, by Amoghavarsha Nruputunga during the Rashtrakuta regime, originating from Manyakheta, now known as Malkhed, in Sedam taluk in Kalaburagi district.
Hazrat Khwaja Bande Nawaz Dargah in Kalaburagi was an equally important pilgrimage centre of the Muslims after Ajmer and the region is dotted with historical monuments, temples, Jain Basadis, Buddhist centres and rich natural resources. “But, unfortunately, all this potential which could have been converted into a major tourist attraction had remained neglected all these years and the government has now decided to tap this potential and provide all facilities, including setting up interpretation centres in all taluk headquarters to provide all information to visiting tourists,” he said.
Mr. Kharge asked the committee members to prepare action plans for the development of tourist-based adventure sport, rock and boulder climbing, eco-tourism with the identification of camp sites amid forest ranges and riverbeds to suit nature lovers.
He said that the committee should finalise circuit-based tourism proposals to enable tourists to visit places of their choice according to their interest in a guided tour. Departments, including the KSTDC, Tourism, Jungle Resorts and Lodges and Archaeology, should work in tandem to ensure that the proposal of the government to tap the tourism potential of the region is put in place within two years.
The committee has three months to prepare the recommendations for tapping the tourism potential of the region and put the region on the Indian and international tourism maps.
