HYDERABAD: Travellers can rejoice as the Telangana government will soon reopen monuments and amusement parks, which were shut since March following the lockdown to curb the Covid-19 outbreak. Speaking to Express, officials from the Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation (TSTDC) said that the Central government has given its nod to reopen amusement parks and monuments that are administered by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Tourism sites are expected to reopen in a phased manner. In the first phase, entertainment parks such as Lumbini Park will reopen, where boating will also be allowed. Officials claim that there will be a cap on the number of visitors allowed in a day and social distancing norms will be followed. In the next phase, State-run tourism daily-tour buses will also start. “We are anticipating that tourism sites, which are under TSTDC, will reopen in the coming weeks following a nod from the State’s Tourism Minister,” said CB Manohar, Managing Director of TSTDC.
He added that the Tourism Minister has instructed the department to ensure that before reopening the sites, all the arrangements at the sites must be compliant with Covid-19 norms.
The Golconda Fort was reopened for the visitors on September 1, however, the light and sound show has not resumed at the site. According to the director of the Salar Jung Museum, there are no proper notifications from the Central government to reopen the museums.
Job loss
Since the lockdown, the TSTDC has incurred losses worth more than `3 crore. Apart from the financial loss, there has been a huge job loss in the sector in the last few months