Itanagar, Oct 13 (PTI): Arunachal Pradesh ChiefMinister Pema Khandu today urged forest officials to emulatebest practices from other states where forest rest housesmanaged by the government have become popular touristattractions, an official release said.
Khandu said this while inaugurating the Forest RestHouse at Itanagar Biological Park in the presence of ForestParliamentary Secretary CT Mein, PCCF Omkar Singh and otherofficials.
The chief minister cited the example of HimachalPradesh which, according to him, has the best tourist-friendlyset up. He said the north Indian state's forest department hasbeen able to market its natural resources to attract a largenumber of tourists.
He urged the forest officials to bring in innovationsand incorporate local architectural designs using bamboo inconstruction of forest guest houses to showcase the localculture.
"The tourists, especially the foreigners, donÂ’t comehere to see cement and brick but they are more interested inthings that has a touch of the nature and local traditions,"Khandu said.
He urged the department to hire experts in developingassets, such as parks, zoos, guest houses etc. instead oftrying it out themselves, which may suffer due to limitedexpertise.
Appreciating the efforts of the local community inpreserving forest resources around the Itanagar BiologicalPark, the chief minister expressed happiness that today peopleare aware about the importance of preservation of wildlife.
Raising concerns over human interventions negativelyimpacting the natural landscape, he said most of the naturaldisasters in the state are man-made and urged the departmentsto adopt construction practises that are more nature-friendly.
Khandu also gave away prizes to winners of essay anddrawing completion organised by forest department for schoolstudents in celebration of 63rd Wildlife Week. PTI UPLJM.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.