In 2012, the Centre, through the Union Tourism Ministry, sanctioned ₹3 crore for taking up development work and spruce up the hill for the public.
A funds of ₹60 lakh (20% of the sanctioned amount) was given to the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department. “Only small civil works like lighting the place and construction of a compound wall around the track of the toy train were carried out,” says Durga Prasad, secretary of the Gandhi Hill Foundation.
He says in 2015, when they insisted that the department take up the works, they did not get proper response. “By 2016, the sanctioned funds got lapsed as the Central government closed all the old schemes, thus depriving the Gandhi Hills of funds again,” he says.