The ambitious plan to put in place a suspension bridge at the picturesque Kuntala waterfall in Adilabad district is set to get delayed.
The Forest and Tourism departments had proposed a bridge, following the Laknavaram lake model in old Warangal district, at the State’s largest and most dangerous waterfall to make it safer for visitors. However, paucity of funds has thrown the proverbial spanner in the works.
Improving facilities
“More facilities, however, will be developed at Kuntala for the benefit of numerous visitors at the waterfall in the coming season,” said Adilabad District Forest Officer B. Prabhakar.
“Funds to the tune of ₹25 lakh have been sanctioned with which several works for improving the existing facilities will be taken up,” he added, hinting that tourism development at the scenic location is still on.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests P.K. Jha and Tourism secretary B. Venkatesham had visited the place along with a structural engineer from Bengaluru in May last year to make an assessment of the development works that can be taken up.
One of the major components of the proposed development plan at that time was construction of a suspension bridge close to the top of the 140-feet waterfall.
“The project will cost about ₹8 crore and it may not be feasible to take it up in the near future. But visitors will find the place with almost everything they need before the start of the season,” Mr. Prabhakar said.
Safety measure
The ₹25 lakh will be spent on a chain link mesh near the foot of the first fall which will prevent visitors from going dangerously close to the natural wonder. “We will construct toilets, provide drinking water, take up repairs of guest house and more importantly, repair the steps and provide a railing all along,” he revealed.
The plan also includes development of a parking area and erection of a welcome arch at the start of the reserve forest.
Already, the number of personnel connected with safety of visitors and other duties has been increased. Now, Kuntala, on a permanent basis, has four diver-swimmers, three monitors-cum-guides in addition to the three who clean the place and three more at the ticket counter.
The fund was sanctioned from Biodiversity Conservation Society of Telangana which is allotted for the purpose in protected areas only and Kuntala waterfall falls within the buffer area of Kawal Tiger Reserve.
The money would be spent before the end of the financial year.
