Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday said that it was necessary to allocate a separate budget for conservation of heritage and historical monuments in the interior of the city. The Chief Minister was speaking at the inaugural function of the national workshop for Chhattar Manzil at Durbar Hall that will see experts from all over the country brainstorm on how the building could be changed into a tourist and cultural centre.
The Chief Minister said budgetary allocation for heritage was important to provide necessary resources for conservation. "We are working on a heritage policy on the lines of Rajasthan which has made tremendous progress in the direction of heritage tourism. But heritage policy alone will not help and budgetary allocations are required for conservation of monuments," he said.
Yadav said that lucknow had tremendous potential for tourism with its Ganga-Jamunavi tehzeeb and rich culture. "It is unfortunate that though we get the maximum number of tourists in the state, they prefer the destinations of Agra, Mathura and Varanasi and then return without visiting lucknow. Bringing the tourists here will boost tourism in the city," the Chief Minister said, adding that he hoped that Agra-lucknow Greenfield Expressway would help in this direction.
Yadav said that one could not change history but one could make efforts to improve the future. He said that one could also learn from history. "I have read a beautiful article which points out how these monuments could be approached only by the river and all things were carried by boats. Today, however, no one can sit in a boat in the river Gomti for more than ten minutes because the water is so stinking. We will be working in this direction too," the Chief Minister said.
Having a dig at the media for negative reporting, Yadav said whenever the Samajwadi Party Government took any initiative in the field of tourism and heritage, media only criticised its efforts. "The heritage walk was started with such a fanfare but look what has been written about it. Similarly, our efforts to promote the movie 'Dedh Ishqiya', which was shot in lucknow, also received a flak. However, I tell my ministers not to be disappointed," he added. Responding to lucknow University professor PK Ghosh's request for installation of statues of the Nawabs of Awadh in the city and naming of roads after them, the Chief Minister made a tongue-in-cheek remark: "The Samajwadi Party has never been in favour of installing statues.
Wherever we have installed statues we have removed the statues of those who had exploited our people and replaced them with the statues of our own leaders." He said that unlike any other party, the Samajwadi Party always emphasised on tourism. The Chief Minister said that the Samajwadi Party had done much for the welfare of the people, including distribution of laptops in rural areas, starting of the Metro Rail project, and development of IT City and IIT.
Minister for Culture, Aruna Kori, said that the heritage buildings needed to be conserved for future generations. She said the grand Chhattar Manzil would be developed as a city and science museum. Professor PK Ghosh gave details of the magnificent building and stated that the water from river Gomti and the termites had done much harm to the building. Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani said that the city had several monuments that gave it its rich heritage.
"The city has several monuments but several of them are in a dilapidated condition and need conservation. The Uttar Pradesh Government is aware of its responsibility and has started several projects which would put the city on the cultural map. "The Chhattar Manzil witnessed the first war of independence and its grandeur still remains. We are also thinking in the direction of taking out a coffee table book on the monuments of lucknow," he said.