Industrial houses to help spruce up tourist destinations

 Cold shouldered by the states, Union Tourism Ministry now ropes in industrial houses to keep major tourist spots clean including Taj Mahal, Khajuraho temple and Ajanta caves.

 

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Limited recently adopted Taj Mahal in Agra as part of their corporate social responsibility to upkeep the environs of the heritage site and upgrade tourist facilities at the monument under the Clean India Campaign of the Ministry. The Clean India Campaign is a multi-pronged action and comprehensive strategy to ensure an acceptable level of cleanliness and hygiene practices at tourist destinations for an inclusive and sustainable development of tourism through ownership and involvement of private and public sector stakeholders. Besides cleaning, it includes providing drinking water facilities, uniform signage’s in and around the premises, placing of garbage bins, various repair and replacement works, management and garbage clearance, landscaping, tourist help desks and deployment of volunteers for better management among other activities.

The public sector unit has agreed to adopt Ellora and Elephanta Caves in Maharashtra, Red Fort in Delhi, Golconda Fort in Hyderabad and Mahabalipuram in Tamilnadu.The ministry now plans to approach other major public sector units including Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Steel Authority of India (SAIL), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and GAIL (India).

“The minister (K Chiranjeevi) is likely to write letters to some of these Public Sector Undertakings next week, requesting their support for the Clean India Campaign,” official sources told Deccan Herald. Qutab Minar and its monuments in Delhi, Khajuraho group of monuments in Madhya Pradesh, Sun temple in Odisha, Mahabodhi temple in Bodhgaya, Bihar, Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks in Uttarkhand, Churches and Convents of Goa, Great Living Chola Temples in Tamil Nadu are among 24 world heritage sites identified for maintenance under the Clean India Campaign.

Groups of monuments at Hampi and at Pattadakal in Karnataka, which have been declared as world heritage sites are also in the list of 120 sites, including Belur, Halebid, Shravanabelagola, Mysore, Somanthpur, Srirangapatna, Bandipur, Nagarhol and Kabini, which are to be covered under Clean India Campaign.

The ministry is trying hard to pursue industrial houses to adopt these important tourist destinations including monuments under the campaign as it received a very cold response from the state governments.