Goal to Fix Sports Infra, Bid for '36 Olympics: KTR

Hyderabad: Creating international-level sports infrastructure with a goal to bid for the Olympic Games in 2036 will be the next big task, BRS working president and minister K.T. Rama Rao told Deccan Chronicle, where he was Guest Editor on Friday.

Rama Rao also said he was keen to ask his “boss” Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for the tourism portfolio in the next Cabinet to harness the vast potential of the water bodies across the state to attract visitors.

Working out solutions to address the issue of a proliferating number of street dogs and the mosquito menace is among the civic issues the next-generation leader of the BRS desires to place on top of his agenda, along with a drive to inculcate better civic sense among the citizens.

Rama Rao’s vision for Telangana, in particular, Hyderabad, stretched to 2047, when the country would be celebrating 100 years of Independence. He would be unveiling his plan in a couple of days as part of the election campaign.

As Guest Editor, taking a break from the hectic election campaign and rounds of meetings, Rama Rao said, “We have done a lot, and a lot more to be done.” He listed out the next big ticket projects – a ring road beyond the existing Outer Ring Road and proposed Regional Ring Road that will cover 75 per cent of Telangana, 400 km of Metro Rail tracks in the city, improving flood management, and replacing the old drainage system.

“It may look audacious now but it is the only way to sustain Hyderabad,” Rama Rao said.

The minister who has left his mark on the city’s infrastructure development in the last nine years strongly believes that the state has huge tourism potential.

“Thanks to the initiatives on the irrigation front, we could build several reservoirs. Like Kerala, we can develop water-based tourism. The Krishna River stretch between Somasila and Srisailam is another area where wildlife, adventure, and religious tourism can be developed in a big way,” he said.

 “If there is any area where we are lagging behind Karnataka, it is social infrastructure and we will develop on a priority basis,” he added even as he added that it was vital to build civic infrastructure to avoid the problems that the neighbouring state is facing.