Maharashtra's mine tourism getting good response: govt

To let the common man understand  and appreciate  the operations involved in coal mining, mine tourism was started in a small way by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation at Saoner and Gondegaon in Nagpur district.

The government has decided to give a major push after good response from the public.

The MTDC started mine tourism in two places - the Gondegaon Opencast Coal Mine and Saoner Underground Mine No 1.  Both are owned by Western Coalfields Ltd, one of the eight subsidiaries of Coal India Limited.  

"It was a unique initiative and the first-of-its-kind. We have good response and we will expand it further to attract more tourists," Tourism Minister Jaykumar Rawal told Deccan Herald.

Tourists will get to descend 500 metres below the surface into the WCL coalmine in Saoner near Nagpur to experience the hardship miners faced in extraction of coal.

"Additionally, they are also getting an opportunity to tour an eco-park and visit the open cast mine in Gondegaon," an MTDC official said.