TG to line up exotic eco-tourism projects

Hyderabad: The state government is to shortly come up with a slew of exotic eco-tourism projects in its bid to attract a larger turnout of domestic and international tourists to the state.

The proposed projects will be developed by utilising the vast natural resources, mainly forests, rivers and waterfalls that the state boasts of.

Citing the famed ‘night safaris’ developed on a small land parcel of 30 acres in Singapore, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday instructed forest department officials to develop eco-tourism projects in such a way that the nature-friendly tourist spots will draw many tourists to the state.

Chairing a high-level review meeting of the forest department here, the Chief Minister observed that people from the state were visiting Bandipur and Tadoba tiger sanctuaries for tiger sighting. As a measure to address this, he instructed the officials to provide better facilities in Amrabad and Kawal Tiger sanctuaries so that even these two become popular sanctuaries. Referring to land ownership issues, Revanth Reddy said that officials from the forest and revenue departments should conduct a joint survey to resolve the long-pending land disputes. All collectors concerned were directed at paying special attention to this matter.

The Chief Minister also called for developing the Kakatiya Zoo park in Warangal by conducting a study on the possibility and feasibility of developing a zoo in the PPP mode.

Taking a serious note of the increasing attacks on people by wild animals, Revanth Reddy instructed officials to take immediate steps to ensure that compensation is given to families of those killed or injured during such attacks. Compensation should also be paid to those who lost their livestock in a similar fashion.

He said that the available CMRF funds will be utilised to pay compensation to the victims.

Revanth Reddy ordered that all cameras installed in forests to protect animals and keep track of their movements should be connected to the Command Control Center (ICCC) in Hyderabad.

Making a note of the shortage of officers in the forest department, he urged the Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao to impress upon the Union government on the urgent need to allocate IFS officers to the state.

He also instructed the officials to prepare proposals for promotions and filling up of vacancies in the forest department immediately.

Meanwhile, he announced restoration of awards honouring service excellence in the forest wing.