Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The city has rich heritage and tourism potential. Every year, the city receives over three million (30 lakh) tourists, therefore, to enhance the overall tourism experience, the mayor Sameer Rajurkar, on Thursday, directed the municipal corporation administration to set up a dedicated ‘Tourism Help Desk’ (THD) within the next eight days. To boost tourism development, he also instructed officials to identify a suitable location and appoint specially trained guides to assist visitors at THD.
The directions were issued during a meeting of the tourism management committee (TMC) held at the Smart City Mission office, chaired by the mayor. Deputy mayor Rajendra Janjal, leader of the opposition Abdul Sameer Sajed, additional commissioner Ranjit Patil, deputy commissioner Ankush Pandhare and assistant commissioner Rutuja Patil were present.
The other members who were also present in the meeting Dushyant Patil of Samarthya Pratishthan; Dr Madhuri Sawant, Head of the Tourism Department at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University; Sanket Kulkarni and Aditya Waghmare from Intach; Deputy Engineer (Deputy Directorate of Tourism) Abhishek Mudiraj; MTDC tourism officer Shoaib Shah; Director of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum, Prakash Purwar; tourism expert Sarang Takalkar; and Smart City’s heritage architect Sneha Bakshi.
Key decisions taken at the meeting
-Approval was granted to develop a well-equipped conservation laboratory under the municipal corporation for the preservation of historical structures and artefacts.
-Plans were made to organise regular heritage walks to raise public awareness about the significance of heritage sites.
-A new policy will be formulated through a committee of experts for the comprehensive development of heritage sites, research centres and museums within municipal corporation limits, with the aim of transforming the city’s tourism landscape.