Eyes set on tourist footfall

​Warangal: Finally, there is a move to restore the fading sheen of the culture and heritage of Kakatiya Dynasty that witnessed a glorious past. Buttressing the fact that smaller districts make for better administration, the authorities have got down to serious business to turn the Warangal Urban district a prominent tourism hub in the state.

It may be noted here that Warangal outdoes Hyderabad becoming number one tourist destination in Telangana, last year. According to tourism officials, there has been a steady increase in tourist footfall for the last few years. The number of foreign tourists visited Warangal was 528 in 2010; 514 in 2011; 723 in 2012; 887 in 2013; 1,150 in 2014; 356 in 2015; around 450 so far this year.

The figures say that the number of domestic tourists visited Warangal (erstwhile district) was around 26 lakhs in 2012, it doubled in 2013 with over 52 lakh in 2013. Since then the patronage of the domestic visitors is on upward direction.

But after the districts was split into five, Warangal Urban has left with only a few while losing quite a few major tourism spots such as Ramappa, Medaram, Mallur Narsimha Swamy, Laknavaram and Pakal lakes, Pandavulagutta and the list goes on…

Even against this backdrop, the Urban district has enough attractions such as Warangal Fort, 1,000 Pillars, Bhadrakali and Padmakshi temples that are already drawing large number of tourists, including the foreigners, thus providing direct and indirect employment to many.

Now with the Warangal already selected for the Centre’s Smart Cities Mission, the city is in for huge makeover. In this backdrop, the administration wants to address the shortcomings at various spots. The Rs 4 crore ‘Sound and Lights’ show at the Fort is defunct due to technical glitches.

Majority of the spots have no site guides and the amenities were also appalling. Forum for Better Warangal president Pulluru Sudhakar said: “The Prataparudra Planetarium, the only facility in Telangana apart from the BM Birla Planetarium in Hyderabad is craving for administration’s attention for the last five years.”

District Collector Amrapali Kata, who is keen to develop the tourism in the district, directed the tourism officials to prepare detailed project reports for the proposed Shilparamam, Arts and Crafts Village, Eco Tourism boating facilities at Dharmasagar and Waddepally tanks.

A plan is also on the anvil to construct Haritha Hotel at Ainavolu, meditation centre in Hanamkonda. “The construction of Rs 3.5 crore Archaeological Museum will be completed in about three months,” the TSTDC DE Lankapalli Samuel told The Hans India.