Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation (TSTDC) will be soon introducing battery operated vehicles to ferry visitors from Charminar, Salar Jung Museum, Chowmahalla Palace and other places of tourist attraction in the Old City once the permission comes from the Transport Department.
With the Charminar Pedestrianisation work going on and other vehicles likely to be disallowed from operating in these precincts, the department has written to the Transport Department to allow it to operate the “Hop in, Hop out” vehicles touching these tourist places, said TSTDC Managing Director B. Manohar on Monday.
Addressing a press conference on the occasion of the newly appointed TSTDC Chairman P. Bhoopathi Reddy taking charge, the MD said the department has lined up a series of initiatives to improve the tourism infrastructure in the 31 districts across Telangana and with the appointment of Mr. Reddy, he expected the initiatives to be cleared as well as expedited through the Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
The new chairman informed that the department was very keen to have Haritha budget hotels in all the districts and also improve the facilities for visitors like recreational facilities and boating in 50 water bodies taken up for improvement under the Mission Kakatiya programme to begin with.
Mr. Manohar said fast moving boats will soon be introduced for taking visitors on a four hour cruise between Nagarjunasagar to the Somasila reservoir similar to the service between Nagarjunasagar to Srisailam. Boat cruises are going to be introduced in Alisagar lake too.
Lifejackets have been made mandatory for visitors taking boat rides, the MD clarified to a question and observed that though the Krishna river is not as expansive as the Godavari with considerably less gusty winds, there will be no compromise on security. Catamaran boats with double hulls are being used for more stable operations with less chances of tipping over. Moreover, all the boats undergo a rigorous registration/inspection procedure periodically.
Food courts selling Telangana cuisine all round the year are proposed to come up at the Gandipet Lake and Tourism Plaza Hotel in Somajiguda. More facilities at Anantagiri Hills and Jogulamba Temple at Alampur are also on the anvil. TSTDC has also recently introduced Kaleshwaram irrigation project special tour, he added.
(eom)