Author: Our Regional Bureau in
Ahmedabad
Publication: Business Standard
Date: November 7, 2003
URL: http://www.business-standard.com/today/story.asp?Menu=23&story=26881
Stating that the central government
has decided to adopt Dholavira, Modera and Somnath under its scheme of
developing centres of excellence, Union minister for tourism Jagmohan said
on Thursday that more than Rs 15 crore has already been spent in the past
one year on developing tourist spots in Gujarat.
Funds will not be a problem as far
as the Central government is concerned, the minister said.
Commenting on Dholavira, where the
Centre has already spent Rs 1.30 crore over the past one year and will
spend another Rs 1 crore in the next one month, he said, "We intend to
convert Dholavira into one of Gujarat's and India's main tourism hub. I
am even planning to organise a Wold Archaeologists' Meet in Dholavira with
the sole intention of inviting archaeologists from all over the world to
this site that is between 5,000 and 7,000 years old," Jagmohan said.
Other than Dholavira, the Central
government has decided to adopt Saputara, Somnath, Modera, Adalaj, Pavagadh,
Patan and a few ancient Jain temples for development as tourism sports.
"For the past two months or so,
we have started a new initiative where tourism is being synthesised with
the culture and civic life. This huge heritage that we have in the form
of architecture, temples and the like, especially in smaller towns, has
been a neglected lot. That will now change," the minister said.
On Dholavira, Jagmohan said excavations
so far have revealed that this was a mature, urban civilisation with excellent
drainage and town planning.
The facilities that have already
been set up at Dholavira include landscaping, cottages for staying, an
information centre and auditorium and the like.
"If you go to Dholavira today, there
is no accommodation and other problem. In the next stage, though, we want
archaeologists from all over the world to permanently station themselves
at Dholavira for excavation purposes. This will actually bring in many
foreign tourists as well," he said.
"If it is proven that the Saraswati
river existed along the several sites between Haryana and Gujarat, there
this belt, including Dholavira, will be the greatest excavation undertaken
anytime in the world," the minister said.
About Somnath, the minister said
the Central government will undertake improvement of infrastructure and
other facilities around the temple, including the sea front.
"However, the temple and the land
surrounding it belong to a trust and we cannot do much within the premises,"
he said.
Similarly, the Union government
will spend around Rs 3 crore on promoting the Sun Temple at Modera in Patan
district.
