Tourism and Culture Minister Chandulal
Telangana tourism officials want Mizoram citizens to come to Hyderabad instead of going to Mumbai for medical treatment. Participating in a road show at Aizawl, the capital city of Mizoram, on Monday, Telangana tourism secretary Burra Venkatesham spoke on important tourist locations in the state. Stating that Hyderabad is a medical tourism hub, he wanted Mizoram citizens to choose Hyderabad where medicare is cheaper than that in Mumbai. Latest medical facilities are available in Hyderabad at lesser cost, he claimed. Venkatesham invited Mizoram students to join the National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management (NITHM) in Hyderabad. Mizoram tourism officials said they too would organise a Mizoram tourism road show in Telangana shortly. Telangana Tourism Development Corporation chairman Pervaram Ramulu and others took part in the roadshow.
Telangana tourism road show held in Assam
The Telangana Tourism Department held a road show in Guwahati on Wednesday to attract tourists from the north-eastern State to explore Telangana. The Secretary for Tourism, Burra Venkatesham, who inaugurated the road show, said efforts were on to ensure that both Assam and Telangana promote their tourism showcasing their best tourist places. He said Telangana has several forts, palaces depicting the Nizam’s legacy while heritage of Kakatiya dynasty can be explored in places like the Ramappa temple and Bhadrakali temple and thousand pillars temple in Warangal. He also said Hyderabad has carved out a special place with a mix of heritage and modernity, and it was one of the cheapest places to live. He also invited the Assam government to hold road shows in TS.
Tourism blooming in Nizamabad
By establishing Kamareddy-Basar tourism circuit and developing ecotourism at Alisagar project, the State government is working towards developing tourism in Nizamabad district. Tourism Minister Chandulal and Nizamabad MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha had recently inaugurated the ecotourism project at Alisagar. Out of the Rs 4.5 crore budget, nearly Rs 2.5 crore is spent still now. Tourism and Culture Minister Chandulal informed that the State government had proposed to develop Nizamabad, Kamareddy-Basar tourism circuit in Nizamabad district connecting various tourism spots and devotional centres, which are situated in Kamareddy-Nizamabad-Nirmal districts.
Apart from tourism circuit, ecotourism project is also constructing a ropeway on Alisagar waters, like that of Laknavaram lake situated in Warangal district. The development in tourism is expected to provide employment to the unemployed youth. The Kamareddy-Alisagar-Basar circuit has many tourism and devotional spots — Kalabhirava and Siddarameshwara temples, Nizamsagar and Pocharam projects in Kamareddy district and Neela Kanteshwara, Limbadri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy, Jankampet Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temples, Sri Ram Sagar and Alisagar ecotourism projects in Nizamabad district. Basar Saraswathi temples and many waterfalls come under the district as well. Nizamabad MP Kavitha said that the Tourism Department should develop Ashtamukhi Koneru temple which will provide more jobs to the local youth and develop tourism circuit. MP Kavitha assured Tourism Minister that these areas’ public representatives will release their constituency development funds as matching grants to develop tourism projects in the area. Telangana Tourism Corporation chairman Pervaram Ramulu said that with enough effort on Alisagar tourism project, it will be developed like Laknavaram lake tourism project and provide employment to more people in the region.
Telangana to get tourism boost with heliports
To boost tourism and exploit commercially potential areas, the Telangana government is coming up with `heliports' in various locations in state. These have been proposed at Dundigal, Hakimpet, Nadirgul in Hyderabad, Basanthnagar in Karimnagar, Nagarjunasagar, Nalgonda, Alair (Yadagirigutta), Warangal and Kagaznagar (Sirpur). The state is also planning to develop new greenfield airports at Zakranpally, Nizamabad, National Investment & Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) at Zaheerabad. "The state government has submitted the proposals to ministry of civil aviation under Regional Connectivity Scheme for 10 unserved airports. These can be converted into fullfledged airports in future," V N Bharath Reddy , director (aviation) of infrastructure and investment department. Officials say since air traffic is on rise, people can avail heliservices. For instance, the state government has taken up development of Yadagirigutta temple and a heliport is being proposed at Alair. Similarly , Nagarjunasagar in Nalgonda district has always been a tourist spot. Kagaznagar and NIMZ are industrial areas where individuals can avail of the facility, apart from VIPs. After formation of the state, the government decided to develop two airports at Kothagudem-Bhadadri district and Warangal. Land acquisition for airports has already begun. For Warangal airport, a MOU was signed with Airport Authority of India for development. AAI informed that apart from existing 748 acres land, it requires another 438 acres for the airport. And this is in acquisition stage. Similarly , land for Kothagudem-Bhadadri airport was identified and sent for approval to ministry of civil aviation. RITES Limited has submitted a pre-feasibility report for development of the airport at Kothagudem and topographic survey was also completed, said officials. "Clearances from forest department are required as a portion of land for greenfield airport is nestled in reserved forests. The government earmarked Rs 1.09 crore for getting airport clearances," a senior official of industries department said. To encourage regional connectivity, air force operators should be given concessions like reduction of VAT to
one per cent, free land, security and fire services, apart from electricity and water at concessional rates and viability gap funding up to 20%, sources said.
History of Telangana
The name "Telangana" refers to the word Trilinga Desa, earned due to the presence of three ancient Shiva Temples at Kaleshwaram, Srisailam, and Draksharamam. A more historical reasoning is that during the reign of Nizams, the region was known as Telugu Angana to differentiate it from the areas where Marathi was spoken. Telangana region has been ruled by great dynasties such as Sathavahanas, Kakatiyas, Chalukyas, Mughals, Qutubshahis, Asafjahis. Kakathiyas contributions to architecture are considered most impressive while Sathavahanas ruled Telangana region for about 400 years right from the 2nd century B.C. to beyond the 2nd century A.D. Among Kakathiyas, Prataparudra, was a great ruler who ruled till A.D.1323. During the rule of Bahamani, Quli Qutub, born in Persia, came to Deccan and he had become the Governor of this region. Quli Qutub later became independent and formed his own Qutubshahi Dynasty in 1518. The Golkonda fort was built by Quli qutub. In his reign, two tanks such as Ibrahim Pantam tank and Hussainsagar were built including a bridge on river Musi, which is known as Puranapul. The Hindus of Telangana region remember him for his immense patronage of Telugu literature. Many Telugu poets such as Addanki Gangadhar Kavi, Panuganti Telanganarya, Kandukuri Rudra Kavi had flourished in his court. Qutubshah then shifted the capital from Golkonda to Hyderabad on the banks of the river Musi. He built the Jamia mosque at Charminar. The State of Hyderabad was eventually founded by Mir Qamruddin Chin Qilich Khan. Later, he conferred himself the title of Asaf Jah, by which title the dynasty is still known. In 1799, the Nizam rulers aided the East India Company in their war with Tipu Sultan. When the Nizam was compelled to sign a subsidiary alliance with the British in the year 1799, he lost his authority over the state’s defence and its external affairs. The Nizam also had to give up the Coastal Andhra and the Rayalaseema regions of his vast kingdom to the British, as he was unable to pay monetarily for the assistance the British rendered during the Nizam’s wars against Tipu Sultan. Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema then became part of the British Presidency of Madras, while Telangana became part of the princely state of Hyderabad. For a long time, the Nizam lead a privileged and a charmed life. He was considered to be the world’s richest man of his time. Nizam Mir Usman Ali Khan Bahadur was conferred with the title of “His Exalted Highness”. Geographically, Hyderabad commanded a pivotal position in the heart of India with a population of nearly sixteen million and an area of 82,000 square miles. Hyderabad boasted of its own coinage, paper currency and stamps. Soon after the announcement of India’s independence, the Nizam declared his intention not to send representatives to either the Constituent. The Indian Government refused to entertain a request that Hyderabad would seek a separate status and Operation Polo was initiated to annex Hyderabad state. The Kannada and Marathi speaking areas of Hyderabad state was then merged with Karnataka and Maharashtra respectively while Telugu speaking region of Telangana was merged with Andhra state with Hyderabad as the capital of united Andhra Pradesh state in 1956. Although there was resentment against the merger, there was a period of calm. After the promises made to respect the rights of Telangana were not fulfilled, a separate Telangana agitation was launched in 1969. Following subsequent Gentleman’s agreement and again a period of broken promises and injustice, Telangana movement was given a final push by Shri. K Chandrasekhar Rao in 2001 with the formation of TRS. Finally due to the whole hearted efforts of Telangana society and political parties, the Government of India agreed for creation of a separate Telangana state in July, 2013 and Telangana came into effect on June 2, 2014 as ‘Telangana state’, the 29th state of Indian Union.