October 21, 2015 TnH Global

Focusing attention on safety and progress

JTDCL has identified three tourist circuits- Jain, Buddhist and nature throwing plenty of choices for all segments of tourists.

For tourists who have a yen for adventure and wildlife, the best destination that is quite wallet-friendly is beyond doubt Jharkhand. The land is steeped in vast swathes of wilderness and has a plethora of pilgrim points for Hindus, Buddhists and Jains alike. In its latest initiative, Jharkhand Tourism has embarked upon a new journey in the vertical of tourism development. Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation Limited (JTDCL) has come up with a gamut of interesting projects to bolster its tourism. Dr. Alok Prasad, Deputy General Manager, JTDCL stated, “We have kicked off adventure tourism activities like mountain climbing, rope climbing and water motor boats for adventure tourists in the state. We have appointed locals as Paryatak Mitra to offer help to tourists and these include life savers and security guards. We would appoint tourist police in order to make travellers travel safe in the interior areas of the state. At the same time, we are into providing tourist vehicles for tourists going to different points at a reasonable rate.”

JTDCL has come up with hotels, wayside amenities at pilgrim points, waterfalls, dams, highways, wildlife sanctuaries and national parks that are managed by trained professionals. “We have developed three major tourist circuits- Jain Circuit, Buddhist Circuit and Nature Circuit. Very soon, we are coming up with our website that would help online booking of all tourism facilities inclusive of transportation,” informed Dr. Prasad. The land has an array of national parks like Betla National Park and Palamau National Park flaunting diverse flora and fauna. “We are pulling Jain tourists from the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. We are looking at Thailand, Sri Lanka, Korea and Japan to entice Buddhist tourists into the state. Around 1.5 lakh global tourists and 3 crore domestic tourists dropped into our state last year. We are expecting 4 crore domestic tourists this year,” Dr. Prasad added. The highest number of domestic tourists visiting the state is from West Bengal. The state has caught the fancy of global tourists from Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Bangladesh. The tourism corporation is into promoting lesserknown tourist spots. “We are promoting Maluti as a prime destination that has attracted the attention of global tourists at the Republic Day parade held in New Delhi this year,” further added Dr. Prasad. Maluti, a small town in Shikaripara of Dumka district has 72 old shrines that are edifices of the kings of Pala dynasty.