Hyderabad: Government plans tourism circuit connecting city monuments

Hyderabad : After the inauguration of the 125-foot tall statue of Dr. B R Ambedkar, the State government has decided to develop a circuit connecting all the major city tourist places, including Secretariat, Martyrs Memorial, Gautam Buddha Statue, and other places.

The Ambedkar statue has been attracting huge crowds. People are thronging the Necklace Road to capture the giant statue on their cell phones. With people in large numbers making a beeline to the statue area, it has become an employment zone with street vendors earning a good income.

The government has decided to cash in on this and plans to make it a circuit connecting all the places. It will appoint guides and photographers. A group of 30 persons is to be trained to explain the importance of Telangana agitation and also about other monuments, like Ambedkar and Buddha statues. They will give a brief history to the visitors going through the monuments, said Tourism Minister V Srinivas Goud. A minimum fee will be charged from the visitors.

The Ambedkar statue was unveiled on April 14 on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti. Similarly, the Secretariat is slated to be inaugurated on April 30. The Telangana Martyrs Memorial is to be thrown open to the public on June 1, a day before the Telangana Formation Day.

The minister said the government was exploring various options for development of tourist destinations and to get revenue from them. It will a decision on connecting more tourist spots to the circuits in the coming days. He said the government has already taken up development works providing amenities for visitors in tourist places like Somashila, Samakka-Saralamma, Buddhavanam among others.

Development of tourist places will not only help in creating employment, but also generating revenue for the government, said Goud.

The minister said the TSTDC would develop tourism villages on government lands procured from companies, which have defaulted.