Forgotten splendour 'Viewpoint' craves due attention

- DoT, Indiatourism claims the site is the pride of the region.

Aurangabad:

The tourism stakeholders including the government offices which are connected directly and indirectly claimed of having initiated measures to promote the Viewpoint, providing a panoramic view of the world heritage site Ajanta Caves, from the height.

Tent camping on cards

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) regional manager, Deepak Harne said, "The preparation of the estimates to develop the 'viewpoint' is underway. The proposal includes

re-opening the restaurant, developing an adequate parking bay, benches, drinking water, a lavatory facility etc. The planning is also to promote the adventure side of the Viewpoint. We will be introducing 'tent' camping for nature-lovers, trekkers and others and promote Astro tourism so that the visitors could gaze at the stars through high-frequency telescopes during the evening hours.”

Adds the deputy director (Tourism Department) Shrimant Harkar said, "The Viewpoint deserves a promotion and we are doing it at our level. We brought this to the notice of the former state tourism minister during his visit to Ajanta Caves and surrounding places on January 27, 2022. The availability of basic amenities and restaurant facilities will help attract tourists and encourage them to spend more and more time in nature's lap."

Viewpoint is just a decorative piece

According to an expert,” The government offices concern has done nothing beyond decorating their offices or the lobbies by displaying the jumbo size Ajanta Caves from the Viewpoint, so far. The great-great-grandson of John Smith, Retired Colonel Martin Smith and his wife, visited the site in 2016. Hence it was hoped that the promotional activity will be undertaken aggressively, but it did not although 200 years celebration of the rediscovery of Ajanta Caves was held in 2020.”

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It is not a halting stop

Aurangabad Tourism Development Foundation (ATDF) president Jaswant Singh said,” We are all for promoting the destination. The experience of seeing the caves from height and spending time in a natural ambience could not be expressed in words. However, the tourists demand a proper restaurant and basic amenities like drinking water, medical facilities etc. The adventure-lovers demand good facilities to scale down till the site through steps. These are the reason why Viewpoint is not becoming a halting stop for the tourist. Although foreign tourists like Thais and Japanese prefer visiting the place without fail.”