HYDERABAD: Ecotourism development should explore the opportunities for public-private partnership projects, and priority should be accorded as part of these projects for creating employment for locals in the selected areas and sites, forest and environment minister Konda Surekha said on Tuesday.
The minister, who chaired reviews at the Secretariat on preparation of a new ecotourism policy for the state, and on usage of Haritha Nidhi funds, said that as per Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s directions, officials should formulate the best possible policy.
Following a briefing by officials from the forest, and tourism departments on policies being followed in Karnataka and Odisha, the Minister suggested that the best practices from these two should be included in Telangana’s ecotourism policy.
The policy should be such that it will encourage NRIs to invest in the projects, while officials should also look at attracting CSR funds for creating affiliated facilities and structures and systems. All the information about the 30 to 40 identified spots for ecotrousim should be available online, Surekha said.
On the use of Haritha Nidhi funds, Surekha sought details on how the money was spent so far. The fund accrues from automatic deductions from salaries of government employees and elected public representatives and is meant to be used for tree planting and associated activities.
Surekha directed officials to use the funds judiciously, and added that a portion of the funds can be used tor creating a multilayered green corridor between Warangal and Medaram.
