Post News Network
Cuttack, Dec 20: Tourist spots in the district have witnessed a decline in the footfall of visitors because of the state government’s lackadaisical attitude in giving them a facelift.
The district has as many as 25 tourist spots, including Buddhist shrine Lalitgiri, Anshupa lake, Charchika shrine, Bhattarika temple, Biratgadi, Barabati fort, Netaji birthplace museum, Dhabaleswar shrine, Naraj, Achyutananda shrine, Dhabaleswar shrine, Pragala shrine at Narasinghpur, Satakosia, Damadamani shrine and, Tigiria-based Prasanna Purosottam temple.
The inflow of foreign tourists to these spots has been dismal because of lack of infrastructure.
In the last three years, these places have witnessed an influx of only 1,507 foreign tourists, with Lalitgiri registering the highest footfall, sources claimed. In 2011, the number of foreign tourists visiting Lalitgiri stood at 420, while it was 326 in 2012 and 305 in the subsequent year. Only six foreign tourists have visited Anshupa lake in the last three years.
The state government had planned to come up with a museum at Lalitgiri for Buddhist statues discovered during excavations. However, government apathy has led to the statues being kept in a godown.
The government had set up a bungalow at Lalitgiri to provide accommodation to tourists. However, electricity supply to the bungalow was after the super cyclone struck the state in 1999. Though more than 14 years have elapsed, the government is yet to restore electricity supply to the bungalow.
The secretary of the Buddhist outfit ‘Buddhyan’, Debendra Sahu, blamed the government and the archaeological department for the declining footfall of tourists at Lalitgiri.
The Charchika shrine is also grappling with lack of basic amenities that has resulted in the tourist inflow dwindling, said a resident of Sisua village, Bankanidhi Rout.
District tourism officer Rina Rath put the onus on the Orissa Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) saying it is responsible for looking after these spots.