Apathy in taking up tourism projects : Case in point - Tutla

The state tourism department keeps announcing new tourism projects all the time. However, how many of them are really being executed is a big question in my mind.

In February of 2009, when the then Union Minister of State , Kanti Singh, had visited Bihar , he had ambitiously announced that Tutla waterfalls would be developed as a major eco and adventure tourism site of international importance. (Read India's Own Grand Canyon - Tutla (Tutala) Waterfalls)

Today after almost 4 years, there is no news or progress in developing the Tutla waterfalls. Forget any progress, there are still no pictures available of Tutla that is spread over 240 sq kms.

But the apathy doesn't end there. As I understand, the Central Tourism ministry will only take up projects when the state tourism department sends a proposal to the center. However, Bihar's tourism department did not think that its worth taking up such a project proposal across. Amazing that no one has thought of putting together such a proposal that too for a place which had tremendous tourism potential.

Over the last 1.5 years, I have written atleast 8 times to various tourism ministers at state and center, tourism secretaries, Chief Minister, Chief Minister's secretaries, PAs, etc but have not received a response ever from anyone except from Mr. Sandeep Kumar, who is the PS to the current Tourism Minister of State. His response was  - Has the state govt sent any proposal?

Beyond that nothing. This was in September of 2011. Subsequent messages to the various people did not yield in any responses.

If this is the way the tourism department works in Bihar, then Bihar will never be able to capitalize on the tourism potential it possesses. And tourism is the 2nd most important avenue for Bihar's growth after agriculture. Do we really need bureaucrats like the current, who are inactive and cannot even take through identified projects in 4 years time. Infact the entire bureaucracy needs a revamp... It appears that most of them are not seeing my mails (so not responding) or are just ineffective or  are not doing their work. The list of people that I have written to are
 

Sandeep Kumar	PS to MoS - Center
tourismminister@nic.in	Minister of Tourism - Center
Sultan Ahmed	MoS Tourism - Central
S. K. Pintu	Bihar Minister for Tourism
secytourismbihar@yahoo.com	Tourism Secretary - Bihar
directortourismbihar@gmail.com	Director Tourism - Bihar
jd.tourism1@gmail.com	Joint Director Tourism - Bihar
dy.directortourism@gmail.com	Dy. Director Tourism – Bihar
Ghufran Ahmad	Assistant Director - Tourism (Bihar)
Priteshwar Prasad	Assistant Director - Tourism (Bihar)

And then follow-ups with the following

Nitish Kumar	CM of Bihar
cms-secy-bih@nic.in	Chief Minister's Secretary
gc-cms-bih@nic.in	Public Grievance Cell – Bihar
ps1-cms-bih@nic.in	Private Secretary to CM

Snapshots of my mails are as follows:

Email 1

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Prashant	Fri, Sep 9, 2011 at 11:33 PM
To: Tourism Minister, Sultan Ahmed, Sandeep Kumar
Dear Sirs, I had read about an article sometime back when the erstwhile Tourism Minister of State had announced that Tutla Waterfalls will be developed as a Tourist destination and it was the Grand Canyon of India. This happened on Feb 10, 2009. I was trying to find out information on the progress of this project but could not find any further information on this , hence writing to you. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-02-10/patna/28010413_1_mundeshwari-union-minister-site Would it be possible to get an update on the project? Will appreciate to get any feedback on this. Regards Prashant

Email 2

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Sandeep Kumar  Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 8:59 PM Reply-To: Sandeep Kumar  To: "Prashant" Has the state govt sent any proposal? Sent from my Nokia phone -----Original Message----- From: Prashant Sent:  21/09/2011, 1:12  AM To: Tourism Minister, Sultan Ahmed, Sandeep Kumar Subject: Re: Tutla Water falls - Status Hi, I was hoping to hear back on this. Do let me know. Regards Prashant On Fri, Sep 9, 2011 at 11:33 PM, Prashant  wrote:  Dear Sirs,  I had read about an article sometime back when the erstwhile Tourism  Minister of State had announced that Tutla Waterfalls will be developed as a  Tourist destination and it was the Grand Canyon of India. This happened on  Feb 10, 2009. I was trying to find out information on the progress of this  project but could not find any further information on this , hence writing  to you.  http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-02-10/patna/28010413_1_mundeshwari-union-minister-site  Would it be possible to get an update on the project?  Will appreciate to get any feedback on this.  Regards  Prashant

Email 3 Prashant  Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 5:42 PM To: Nitish Kumar Cc: Grievance Cell - Bihar, Private Secretary to CM No replies from anyone. ----- On Mon, Nov 5, 2012 at 1:04 PM, Prashant  wrote: Dear Nitishji, While I know you are very busy on getting the special status and necessary support from the center to accelerate Bihar's development, there are areas that need focus like tourism which can help continue the growth of Bihar while we wait for more industries to come. I was very excited about the Tutla Water falls project when it was reported in Feb 2009 as it seemed to have an immense potential not only to attract foreign tourists but domestic tourists as well. However, I am dismayed to see that there was no follow up done by either the Bihar tourism ministry or Center's tourism ministry. The center was expecting a proposal from Bihar for Tutla's development and apparently that proposal has not gone. I had written a couple of mails to various people in the ministries and I did get a reply only from Sandeep Kumar (part of Center's tourism department) asking whether the Bihar government had sent across the proposal, but did not get any other response. I think some of these areas do have a strong potential and just requires focus. Whether people reply to me or not is immaterial as long as the work continues. I wanted to bring this to your notice as it often helps drive development across Bihar. Thanks Prashant ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Prashant Date: Wed, Aug 8, 2012 at 3:19 PM Subject: Re: Tutla Water falls - Status To:Tourism Minister – Central, Sultan Ahmed, Sandeep Kumar, S. K. Pintu, Tourism Secretary – Bihar, Director Tourism – Bihar, Joint Director Tourism – Bihar, Dy. Director Tourism – Bihar, Ghfran Ahmad (Asst Dir – Tourism, Bihar), Priteshwar (Asst Dir- Tourism, Bihar) I haven't had a response in almost a year. Can any of you senior people respond to my query on Tutla Waterfalls please. Thanks Prashant www.progressgivebihar.com What can I say. The Tourism department needs to become agile and focussed. And so do the others in the bureaucracy. Otherwise Bihar will still remain the 8th or 9th state in the ranks of the number of tourists visiting Bihar, whereas it has the potential to becoming one amongst the Top 5 states.

Tourism Status in Bihar ( As of the End of October 2012)

The tourism data released by the Government of India at the end of October 2012 shows that the total number of tourists visiting Bihar in the 1st 10 months of this year was 1.95 crores which was about the same number of tourists that visited Bihar in the complete year 2011. This is about a 20% increase in the number of tourists that visited Bihar in 2011. However the number of foreign tourists that visited Bihar remains flat and roughly the same number of tourists will visit Bihar in 2012 as they did in 2011.

The below table represents the total number of tourists that have visited Bihar in the last 9 years and is courtesy the Tourism Website of Bihar.

Year	Total Domestic Tourists	Total Foreign Tourists	Total Tourists
2012 (First 10 months)	1,88,00,000	7,93,000	1,95,93,000
2011 (Jan. TO Dec)	1,83,97,490	9,72,487	1,93,69,977
2010 (Jan. To Dec)	1,57,87,256	4,92,913	1,62,80,169
2009 (Jan. To Dec)	1,57,84,679	4,23,042	1,62,07,721
2008 (Jan. To Dec)	1,18,89,611	3,45,572	1,22,35,183
2007 (Jan. To Dec)	1,03,52,887	1,77,362	1,05,30,249
2006 (Jan. To Dec)	1,06,70,268	94,446	1,07,64,714
2005 (Jan. To Dec)	86,87,220	63,321	87,50,541
2004 (Jan. To Dec)	81,35,574	38,118	81,73,692

These numbers varying slightly as you see different government sites and publications but is a fairly accurate representation of the number of tourists who have visited Bihar in the last 9 years.

Further information on the 2012 data can be found in the Times of India article "1.95cr tourists visit Bihar in 10months of 2012"

Tie up with Mauritius tour operators to visit Bihar

Many people from Mauritius , who are of Indian origin, have their roots in Bihar. A majority of these people want to come to Bihar to explore their roots, at least once in their lifetime. Thus it is befitting that the Bihar government has signed a MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the Association of Tour Operators (ATO), from Mauritius to launch tour packages which will allow all such people to visit Bihar in a more structured way to explore their roots... and the program is aptly named as "Discover Your Roots".

I think the Bihar government should sign a similar MOU with Suriname, Fiji and Trinidad & Tobago which also have a significant Indian population that come from Bihar.

More details can be found in the Times of India article "Memorandum of Understanding with Tour Operators of Mauritius"

Astro Tourism Circuit

The Bihar government plans to develop Khagual, Taregna and Taregna Top as a astro-tourism circuit, These are historical locations, where renowned astronomer and mathematician Aryabhata conducted astronomical studies. Aryabhata, who was born in 476 AD , also wrote the monumental work "Aryabhatiyam" at the age of 23.

Aryabhata has also been credited for inventing "zero" and giving it a place within the numerical systems besides approximating the value of Pi (π).

The state's science and technology department has decided to develop these three places as centers of tourism attraction highlighting the life and work of Aryabhata. These centres would showcase Aryabhata's concepts and models.

More details can be found in the Times of India article "Government to develop Astro Tourism Circuit"

More details about the number zero can be got from the article "History of Zero"

Strengthening Tourism in Bihar

The Bihar government will invest Rs. 300 crores to strengthen its infrastructure to attract more tourist to the state. These investments are for setting up the Ramayan and Sufi tourism circuits and the work on the infrastructure has started.

The Ramayan Circuit will cover the following places:

1. Tar in Bhojpur
2. Ahirauli in Buxar
3. Pretshila Hills in Gaya
4. Ramachura
5. Panth Pakar
6. Valmiki Nagar

The Sufi Circuit will cover the following places

1. Biharsharif
2. Manersharif
3. Munger
4. Phulwarisharif

The tour packages for these circuits will be announced in sometime. The BSTDC (Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation) also plans to promote its traditional circuits in South East Asia.

There are also plans to develop tourism activities centered around river Ganga. The current offerings include

1. A Floating restaurant 
2. Cruise services from Patna to Kolkata, Varanasi and Faraka 

The new offerings around river Ganga will include

1. Ganga River Island which will offer camel rides and food courts
2. Aqua tourism for domestic and international tourists.

This and more details can be found in The Economic Times article "Bihar Tourism to spend Rs. 300 crore to ramp up infrastructure"

Jalalgarh Fort in Purnia to be restored

Another tourist destination in Bihar is on the anvil of being revived. The Jalalgarh Fort in Purnia which is currently in ruins will be restored to its erstwhile glory.

The Jalalgarh Fort, built by Saiyad Muhammed Jalaluddin Khan, is a large quadrangular structure with lofty walls and is situated about 20 KMs from Purnia.

This is another good step. However, I hope that the project is successfully implemented. About 2 years back the Central Minister for Tourism had announced that Tutla waterfalls in Rohtas will be developed as the Grand Canyon of India. After that there has been no news about it . Even after follow ups with the current Tourism Minister and Dy Tourism Minister at the Center, their PAs, the Tourism Secretary of Bihar and others , I have not received any updated on the progress of Tutla Waterfalls. Hopefully Jalalgarh will not face the same fate.

More details about the news can be found in the Zee News article "Bihar: Jalalgarh fort to be restored"


Prashant
www.progressivebihar.com

China, Taiwan & Japan pledge support for Tourism Development

China, Taiwan & Japan have pledged more than Rs. 200 Crores of support for developing tourism infrastructure in Bihar. The Bihar goverment, which is already preparing to transform Bihar into a world-class destination for religious and historical tourism, will gain from these investments.

Taiwan has committed to investing Rs. 100 crores in restoring tourist sites in two locations - Betiyah and Nandangarh which are part of the Buddha trail. Similarly China has proposed an equal investment for the Center of higher learning being built at Nalanda. And Japan will support other projects like infrastructure, roads and education in Bihar.

Bihar has a great heritage of being the birth place of Buddhism and Jainism besides being the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh and Goddess Sita and if developed well, Bihar can become a major global tourist location.

These and other more details can be found in the Economic Times article Bihar to take tourism development as countries promise funds


Prashant
www.progressivebihar.com 

Tourism in Bihar - The current situation.

It would not surprise many if someone said that only 63,321 foreign tourists had visited Bihar in 2005. Most would have reacted  that they were surprised that even so many foreign tourist had actually visited Bihar if this question was asked of any one in 2006. In fact giving the situation and picture painted of Bihar in those days,  the reaction would not have not been very off the mark.

Fast forward to 2008, a total of 3,45,572 foreign tourists visited Bihar, i.e. about 5 and half times more in just 3 years time. Now as the Business Line has reported, 5,27,773 foreign tourists have visited Bihar in the first 11 months of 2011. Thus the growth in foreign tourists visiting Bihar has been about 9 times as compared to the number of tourists in 2005.

In 2005 the number of foreign tourists visiting Bihar was only second to Goa; come 2011 and  Bihar has the highest number of foreign tourists visiting any state in India. A total of 1,27, 05, 531 domestic tourists also visited Bihar even though many would have been Biharis returning back to see their state and their people. But then it is good, that the changes in Bihar are prompting many Biharis and other Indians who seldomly came  to Bihar before are now coming or returning back more often.

Quite a feat, don't you  think so, for a state which  not too long ago , was considered by many as a stigma on the face of India! 

It gives immense pleasure to present these statistics on my blog as Bihar is again and again now proving wrong many of its detractors and more so taking large strides towards prosperity.

Many of us would outright vouch that Bihar has a huge potential for tourism growth and the above data really justifies it. However there is still a lot more possible and what is required is to continue building better infrastructure and highlighting the tourism potential of Bihar both in India and abroad. I think that government is working in the right direction with the various infrastructure initiatives and promotional activities like "Discover Bihar" that are being carried out. However for the faster growth of tourism in Bihar more private participation is required.

I was happy to hear about the Digital museums being promoted in Nalanda and Gaya by a few entrepreneurs which can be seen in this NDTV article on Youtube. There must be many more that I have not heard of or just not come across and I think there is many more that will come. It is the destiny of Bihar and Bihar will prosper.

More details about the current statistics can be found in the Business Line article "Bihar woos visitors with eco tourist spots". Details of the earlier stats can be found in my blog post "Tourism Picking up in Bihar"

Prashant
www.progressivebihar.com 

Tourism picking up in Bihar

The news that more foreign tourists visited Bihar in 2008 than ever before has pleasantly surprised me. As per the article dated 2nd Sept 2009, appearing in Times of India , 3,45,572 foreign tourists visited Bihar in 2008. In 2005 the number of foreign tourists visiting India was 63,321. This is over 5 times increase in foreigners visiting Bihar and this is a very good sign specially as this number was next only to Goa's.

Dy. Chief Minister Sushil Modi has attributed this to better law and order situation, improvement in tourists’ facilities and positive changes in the state. I will tend to agree with his statement.

The dramatic increase in foreign tourists illustrates how a positive change in basic infrastructure and security can have an all round impact on the state. Bihar has a lot of opportunities to build global tourism destinations . Many of the tourist locations like Nalanda, Rajgir, Kesariya Stupa, Gaya, Tutla falls, etc can easily be developed into international tourism destinations of repute. I am sure the government has this in mind and will develop more and better infrastructure that will attract big revenues from tourists internationally and domestically that will in turn aid in the faster development of Bihar. If some people in the government have not realized this, I am sure they will, after hearing or reading this article in Times of India.

The detailed article can be found in Times of India : Over 3.4 lakh foreigners visited state in 2008

Tourist locations in Bihar

While looking at the list of tourist attractions in Bihar, I am always a little intrigued by the handful number of tourism locations in Bihar. Having been the seat of knowledge and the capital (Patliputra), I would assume that there are many more small, not so very famous places, which can become a tourism site in Bihar. I would like to compile a bigger list of places of tourism which can capture more of these places. So if not for others, atleast me and the other people who visit this blog or are part of the email groups, will know of additional places we can visit or talk about to our friends in coffee table discussions.

Based on whatever I have read, and the places I have visited I know of the following places.

1. Nalanda University


2. Mahabodhi Temple


3. Sher Shah Mausoleum


4. Barabar Caves


5. Kesariya Stupa


6. Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public


7. Maluti


8. Golghar


9. Tutla


10. Babadham


11. Deoghar


12. Pawapuri


13. Rajgir

I am talking of locations in both Bihar and Jharkhand because for me these places were always together and even today the map of Bihar that comes to my mind is the old unified map.

I have not found pictures of Tutla even though I have written to the Tourism department of Bihar and specific secretariat of Sasaram district. Maybe they also don't have it as its relatively a un-inhabited natural tourist destination recently found.

So I would like to compile a list of interesting places that can become a tourist destination and look forward to all your inputs on the same. And if you have any photos for the places you would like to suggest, then it would be wonderful.

Tourism comes to Bihar

The central government is now putting more focus on improving tourism in Bihar. The government is now toying with the idea to introduce luxury trains in the Buddhist circuit in Bihar on the pattern of the prestigious


News courtesy - Times of India. More details at

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Patna/Centre_mulls_luxury_trains_in_Buddhist_circuit/articleshow/4083990.cms