For tourist facilitation in the State, Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra on Wednesday directed to “ensure proper upkeep and maintenance of the wayside amenity centres (WACs) and make them more homely for the tourists”. He was reviewing the functioning of the WACs in a high-level meeting.
Total 84 WACs are constructed by sides of different highways and important roads leading to tourist destinations. While 35 such facilities are created by the Tourism Department, 49 are created by the Works Department.
It was decided in principle that the WACs would be operated through block and gram panchyat-level women Self-Help Groups (WSHGs) federations. Civil maintenance, as and when necessary, would be done by the respective property-owning departments.
Mahapatra directed the Mission Shakti Department to train the WSHG members with necessary skills through professional institutions for running of the WACs. He advised to make available additional logistic facilities at the WACs generally required by the tourists. The Departments of Mission Shakti, Tourism and Works were asked to plan out the details for effective functioning of the WACs.
Further, Mahapatra directed the Departments of Rural Development and Works to locate and list out the scenic places by sides of different roads leading to tourism sites and eco-spots. It was decided to develop those places with interventions like a small parking place for 10 to 15 vehicles, toilets, sitting place, etc., so that the tourists could stop there for a while and enjoy the scenic beauty. “This would give a breathing break to the monotony of long travel and make their trip more enjoyable,” said the Chief Secretary.