Govt wakes up, finally

Darpan Singh, Agra

With a view to dealing with the huge tourist influx during the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and also cashing in on the opportunity, the State Tourism Department seems to have finally risen to the occasion. Often accused of adopting a ‘Taj centric’ approach in tourism promotion, the office of the Director General (tourism) has come with plans to promote lesser-known but potential protected monuments in a big way to draw more visitors.

Tourism DG Shushil Kumar has said the existing infrastructural facilities will be improved in view if the Games. Incidentally, HT carried a detailed report, dated June 29, on the State’s preparations for the mega event. Experts in the tourism industry are expecting the number of tourists visiting Agra to go up by several lakhs during the event. However, the hotel industry is not looking well prepared for the boom and is awfully short of adequate accommodations to deal with the ‘historic’ numbers expected in the city of Taj three years down the line.

When contacted by HT on Saturday, a senior government official said, “As part of the plan, local tourism officials have been asked to furnish details of sites which are not being promoted properly. The department plans to prepare publicity materials with information and photographs of lesser known sites.” He said the publicity materials would be distributed at offices and public places and added that online publicity was also in the pipeline.

According to the official, the government may also lure hoteliers to create additional accommodations on their premises for the visiting tourists. Removal of encroachments is also on the agenda. Delhi Gate, Etmauddaula, Sikandra, Ram Bagh and dozens of others have been dwarfed by encroachments. Encroachments threaten to gobble up Babar's Ram Bagh across the Yamuna, Mariam's tomb near Sikandra, Bagh Farzana and Begum Samru's garden. Help of public representatives will also be taken in all these endeavours. The Agra district administration has been informed about the plans.

Incidentally, dozens of lesser-known protected monuments are in a shambles here. The condition of structures like Babar's Ram Bagh or Chini ka Roza, the Jama Masjid of Agra and the tomb of Rasul Shah in Fatehpur Sikri is worsening by the day and they need immediate attention. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has been accused of not following guidelines drawn up in various manuals. Some buildings in the Agra Fort complex are still under repair and not open to public. The ASI in the Agra circle has close to 400 protected monuments under its charge. However, a senior ASI official refuted the charges and said all the monuments in the Agra circle were being properly maintained.

Meanwhile, the Central Government has decided to start world-class food streets in Agra and some other cities of the country on the lines of those in Bangkok, Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur. Confirming this, a Tourism Department official told HT, “The plan will help draw more visitors and also generated employment opportunities for people in Agra.” It is worth mentioning here that despite Chief Minister Mayawati announcing several schemes on April 15 last year, tourists continue to be a harried lot in the city of Taj because of erratic power supply, drinking water crisis and poor health, sanitation and communication facilities.