Centre’s Swachh Iconic Places initiative : T monuments find no place in final list

• State tourism and GHMC authorities left red-faced
• Charminar was listed in the second phase of the Swachh Iconic Places

Hyderabad: Despite GHMC’s tall claims regarding development of Charminar and other historic places in the city, it could not get listed in the Swachh Iconic Places, an initiative of the Central government. Further, no monument from Telangana features in the third phase list of the initiative leaving State tourism and civic authorities disappointed. 

Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation director general Akshay Raut has announced the list of historic and heritage monuments and structures for the third phase of the Swachh Iconic Places initiative on Monday. 

Addressing the National Level Review and Consultation meeting at the MCR HRD Institute here, Raut stressed on the need for a coordinated effort between organisations, including the nodal agencies and the sponsors in developing Swachh Iconic Places.

The list includes Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt - Mantralayam, Hazarduari Palace - West Bengal, Sri Sarveshwar Mahadev Temple - Haryana, Vidur Kuti Temple - Uttar Pradesh, Mana Village - Uttarakhand, Pangong Tso - Ladakh, Shri Nag Vasuki Temple - Allahabad, Ema Keithel - Manipur, Sree Dharma Sastha Temple - Pathanamthitta and Kanvashram - Uttarakhand.

The objective of the project was to achieve inter-ministerial efforts and coordination at higher level of sanitation at the identified places, he said. During the two-day consultation meeting, representatives of different Swachh Iconic Places presented the details of the activities carried out in phase I.

It is to be noted that Charminar was listed in the second phase of the historic and heritage monuments under the Swachh Iconic Places.

GHMC commissioner Dr B Janardhan Reddy while addressing the gathering said that the Hyderabad City having 400 years of history for overall development of the Charminar, the iconic project has been taken up in the Charminar Pedestrian Project where thousands of tourists visit to the spot every day.

The CPP project is costing around Rs 35.10 crore and funds have been allotted from JNNURM with which inner and outer ring road constructions have been taken up and GHMC has allotted Rs 27 crore for the project out of which Rs 20 crore have been spent for overall development of CPP so far. 

The Commissioner said that Public Sector Units should be more liberal in extending their support to such initiatives to improve sanitation at the Swachh Iconic Places.

The Commissioner said that a Power Point Presentation has been given by the senior officials of the Iconic Places about the various activities taken up in different parts of the country.

Bharathi Holikeri, Zonal Commissioner, Khairtabad,  Musharaf Ali, CPP Project Director and senior officials from different states participated in the seminar.