Two tourist facilitation centres lying closed for about 3 years in Kurukshetra

Nitish Sharma

Advertisement

Kurukshetra, November 14

Two out of three Tourist Information and Facilitation Centres built at a cost of Rs 2 crore about three years ago, are lying closed in Kurukshetra. The centres were constructed at three strategic locations — Pipli, near Gurdwara Chhati Patshahi and near Brahma Sarovar — to facilitate tourists from across the country, especially during International Gita Mahotsav, with information about tirthas situated in the district. A budget provided under Krishna Circuit was utilised in this project.

An official in the Kurukshetra Development Board (KDB) said, “Initially, KDB had agreed to run these centres but due to lack of manpower, the centres were closed and the Tourism department was asked to run them. Later, it was decided to engage private agencies for the operation, management and maintenance of cloakroom, food counter, retiring room and prepaid cab counters at the centres. Out of three, only one centre, situated in Pipli, is functional. However, it has failed to serve its purpose as it is being run as a restaurant.”

“There is also a need to engage guides because Kurukshetra is being promoted as a major tourist destination. Thousands of tourists daily reach here from different parts of the country but there are no guides available with the board to attend to them. There should be a team of at least 20 guides to help tourists the tirthas here. International Gita Mahotsav will be celebrated from November 19 to December 6, and about 40 lakh visitors are expected to attend the mahotsav,” he added.

Honorary secretary of KDB, Madan Mohan Chhabra said, “Despite repeated attempts of making them functional, two centres are lying closed. We will request the state government to help the board with manpower required at the centres to resume its functioning at the earliest.”

Chanderkant Kataria, CEO, KDB, said, “Tenders were floated multiple times but we did not get the desired result. One centre, which is functional in Pipli, has failed to fulfil the expectations of the board, following which notices were issued to its operator. The two closed centres will become operational during the mahotsav, for which the board will deploy its own employees.