In a bid to further augment tourist facilities, the Chhattisgarh Tourism Board will be setting up ‘Tourist Information Centre’ (TIC) at Railway stations of four cities of the State. The TICs would come up at Raipur, Ambikapur, Pendra Road and Raigarh, officials stated. Incidentally, Chhattisgarh’s ancient archaeological site of Sirpur has now been included in the three Buddhist Circuits identified by the Union Ministry of Tourism in the country.
The circuits would be developed by the Central Government in partnership with the respective State Governments and private stake holders. The ancient archaeological site of Sirpur in Chhattisgarh had been included in Circuit 3 titled ‘ Buddhist Heritage Trails (State Circuits)’ , officials stated. The list of the identified circuits were announced by Union Minister of State for Tourism & Culture ( Independent Charge) Dr Mahesh Sharma in an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha earlier.
Notably, in December last year, Dr Sharma had informed Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh that Sirpur would be part of ‘Buddha Circuit’ under the ambitious project of Union Ministry of Tourism. The Union Minister had provided the assurance to Singh during a courtesy meeting with him in New Delhi.
The Chief Minster during meeting had informed the Union Minister that Sirpur has all those features as a destination that is capable enough to attract tourists from across the globe. last year, the Chhattisgarh Tourism Board (CTB) also drew up ambitious plans to develop India’s biggest ‘Eco-tourism hub’ in the State.
It had already received a Rs113.5 crore project prioritisation go ahead from the Union Ministry of Tourism to take its plans forward. The CTB, under the aegis of the Chhattisgarh Government has created a blue-print of future tourism plans that will help establish Chhattisgarh as India’s biggest ‘Eco-Tourism hub.’
Based on the fact that Chhattisgarh is blessed with 80 per cent bio-diversity and a melange of natural abundance tops in natural tourism where three national parks, 11 wildlife sanctuaries, more than 30 significant waterfalls, abundant caves and untouched natural topography , the CTB seeks to promote tourism in the State at an international level through its ambitious future plans.
State Minister for Culture and Tourism, Ajay Chandrakar remarked : “Chhattisgarh is a vibrant state which now looks forward towards developing Tourism as one of its richest assets. Based on quality plans and forward looking measures, our aim is to take tourism in Chhattisgarh to millions of national and international tourists while grooming the State in welcoming new tourist arrivals.’
“We (CTB) have already been conferred the ‘National Tourism Award 2012-13’ for the publication of best tourism literature, which we seek to make a common achievement every year by creating more tourism oriented schemes. We aim to establish Chhattisgarh as the top tourist destination in the country, and we are confident that our forward looking measures will definitely help us achieve the same,” he had stated.
Today, the immediate need is to prioritise schemes pertaining to the tourism development and related activities according to the Union Government’s ‘National Tourism Plan.’ A major focus of the prioritisation stands in the promotion of the rich and diverse tribal culture, unexplored tourism circuits and development of local-tourism collaboration, with which major milestones like job creation in tribal sectors and improved status of living can be achieved, Chandrakar stated.
Once implemented, the go-getting tourism development plans will help in developing the essential eco-tourism in the area, and will enable Chhattisgarh build up as India’s biggest eco-tourism hub, one with probably the biggest potential in South-East Asia, he had stated.
Santosh Misra, Managing Director, CTB had stated, “Our aim is to develop State as India’s biggest eco-tourism hub. Thus enhanced tourism by ways of earmarked plans will enable us to develop tourism in the State in a never-seen-before magnitude. With our future venture, we seek to see greater participation of the local community that will be the most focussed tool to counter Naxalism.” By strengthening tourism through organised and responsible decisions, our aim is to empower the region and showcase it in a positive light to the world. Our focus will be to increase the tourist footfall from the 1.5 million in 2012 to nearly 3 million by 2015, he had stated.