Hyderabad, September 27: The government has proposed to develop a sprawling, modern garden on the lines of the Brindavan (Mysore) and Lalbagh (Bengaluru) at Nagarjunasagar.
About 400 acres of land has been identified in Nagalvaram village in Macherla mandal of Guntur district for the purpose.
The place had good connectivity and easy accessibility, officials said.
Chief minister K Rosaiah has agreed to this proposal at a review meeting on the tourism department affairs here today, on the eve of the World Tourism Day.
He said, “I want this park to be both a tourist and educational destination unique in the entire south India. Wherever possible such employment-intensive tourist projects should be promoted to provide jobs to skilled, unskilled and the poor and illiterate people in rural areas,” the chief minister said. Rosaiah said the state’s tourism policy was the best in the country.
He directed the tourism department and the AP Tourism Development Corporation to prepare a master plan for employment- intensive projects to achieve the twin objectives of promoting tourism and creating job opportunities.
The chief minister said Year 2011 would be observed as ‘Visit Andhra Pradesh’ year in recognition of the roll out of dynamic tourist promotion initiatives in the areas of adventure, pilgrimage and beach tourism. He approved the final draft of the new Tourism Policy after discussions with tourism minister J Geetha Reddy, chief secretary S V Prasad and with other officials.
Expressing his happiness over the 16 per cent growth rate in the tourism sector in the state last year Rosaiah said with the new initiatives and a focused tourism policy, he had no doubt that the state would continue to be a preferred destination for both domestic and international tourists.
He said all efforts would be made to get Rs 25 crore due from the Centre for tourism promotion. The officials informed him that proposals were being processed to include 43 Jalayagnam sites in the state’s tourism map. In the first phase 13 locations had been chosen for promotion of tourist infrastructure.
Tourism minister Geetha Reddy said heli tourism was also being promoted at Puttaparthi and Nagarjunasagar. The steps were being taken to mobilise investments in tourism infrastructure to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore, she said.
All pending cases would be cleared under the existing policy before the commencement of the new one.
The chief minister said he would take up Southern Splendor Tourist Train Project proposal with the Centre.
–Agencies