Aurangabad, Aug 25:
The vice-chancellor of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (Bamu), Dr Pramod Yeole, has highlighted the need of providing adequate and tourist-centric facilities in Aurangabad. “There is a dire need for improvement in train, air and bus connectivity for the prosperity of our tourism. It has become easier to reach a foreign country in the air charges of Delhi and Mumbai cities. Efforts should also be made to promote medical tourism, agri-tourism and festival tourism of Aurangabad”.
Yeole was addressing the audience after inaugurating the two-day 23rd national convention of the Tourist Guides Federation of India (TGFI), organised in the city, on Wednesday. The superintending archaeologist of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI, Aurangabad Circle) Milan Kumar Chauley, faculty at Department of History (Bamu) Dr Beena Sengar, TGFI president Sanjay Sharma, vice president Ajay Paliwal, president of Ellora Tourist Guide Association Amod Basole and Bipin Bhardwaj (Delhi) were the chief guests on the occasion.
“ Aurangabad has immense potential to impress the tourists. Hence it should be promoted as a destination that could be visited for 12 months of the year. Tourist guides play a vital role in this,” said Yeole.
Dr Sengar stressed the need of promoting the lesser-known heritage structures surrounding the vicinity of prominent tourist places. Aurangabad Tourism Development Foundation (ATDF) president Jaswant Singh, TGFI’s Vivek Pathak, Prasanna Nayak, Bharat Joshi, Pankaj Kavade, Ajit Kulkarni, Shaikh Ayazuddin and others were also present at the occasion.
ASI invites to explore Ellora
Chauley drew the attention of the audience towards the growing threat to the paintings of Ajanta Caves due to the rush of visitors. “The Tourist Visitors Centre at Ajanta should be handed over to the ASI. It is well-known that there are 34 Caves at Ellora. However, there are many more which need to be explored. Improvement of the Central Bus Stand should be done and the conversation of English, apart from the Hindi language, should be brought into practice” said Chauley.