NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MARCH 18
The central government will develop Mahabalipuram in Tamilnadu and the Statue of Unity in Gujarat as “iconic tourist sites’’ taking the total number of such places to 19, Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel said in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
The minister was responding to a supplementary query raised by Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Sasmit Patra during the Question Hour in the Upper House of Parliament.
Responding to Patra who asked when Odisha would be included among the 17 ‘iconic tourist sites’, Patel said, ‘The member may not be aware that yesterday during the discussion on Tourism Ministry in Lok Sabha, I had mentioned that besides 17 sites, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Konark would also be developed as iconic tourist sites.’
The minister said a decision to develop Konark as an iconic tourist place was taken after he received representations from the Odisha Chief Minister, the Union Petroleum Minister and other delegations.
‘Konark will be developed as an iconic tourist site. Soon, a decision on those smuggling sand from that area will be taken,’ he added.
The Tourism Ministry has identified 17 sites for development as iconic tourism sites – Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri (Uttar Pradesh), Ajanta and Ellora (Maharashtra), Humayun’s Tomb, Red Fort and Qutub Minar (Delhi), Colva (Goa), Amer Fort (Rajasthan), Somnath and Dholavira (Gujarat), Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh), Hampi (Karnataka), Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nadu), Kaziranga (Assam), Kumarakom (Kerala) and Mahabodhi Temple (Bihar).
