Lack of facilities plagues Pillala Marri

Tourism Dept’s callous attitude towards the spot has robbed its sheen

• Development works hit due to lack of coordination among various departments
• Tourism takes a beating in Mahbubnagar district

Mahbubnagar: Pillala Marri aka ‘Peerlamarri,’ a famous tourist spot near Mahbubnagar, is losing its sheen because of lackadaisical attitude of the Tourism Department.

This historic 800-year old banyan tree that spreads across three acres attracts between 300 and 500 tourists a day. But, the lack of basic amenities such as potable water and restrooms have robbed its sheen.

“On Sundays and holidays, we receive a heavy tourists inflow. On holidays, more than 1,500 tourists visit this place,” said Ravi, a ticket vendor of the Tourism Department.

According to the employees working here, the maintenance and development of this tourist spot has been entrusted with five departments Archeology, Agriculture and Forest, Wild Life, Endowment and Education. But the lack of inter-departmental coordination has stalled the progress of works and causing inconvenience to the tourists.

Though the government has allocated substantial funds - about Rs 23 crore - to develop new riverside tourist spots in the district at Kollapur and Somasila, it has ignored the existing spots like Pillala Marri.

Though the funds to the tune to about Rs 40 lakh was allocated to the development of tourist spots in Mahbubnagar district headquarters, much of it was spent on renovation and development of “Pedda Cheru” a mini tank bund type lake. Now, the lake has got a railing around it and also hosts a small boating facility.

Because of this slight attention, the deer park, which is adjacent to the great banyan tree, is today in a dilapidated condition as the lake at the park has dried up due to drought. The park which used to attract a good number of tourists now has fewer visitors and the boating facility at the park has also been closed due to lack of water.

Except a few varieties of caged birds, there is not much for the children to see at the Pillala Marri zoo, which is also a part of the park. “Besides the tree, there is not much to see here. Lack of basic amenities is an obvious problem to tourists,” said Anusha, a tourist visiting the site.

Compounding the problem, the sewerage pipes at the site have broken and the overflowing sewer is giving a tough time to the tourists. The district Tourism Department is facing quite a few problems in the district as there is no head to take care of it.

Though there are quite a few tourist spots in and around Mahbubnagar area, the tourism department hasn’t come forward with any development proposals.

Though the district Collector has recently proposed to develop Jadcherla, a town that is about 15 km away from district headquarters, into a major tourism hub, it is highly unlikely that the project would take off in the given scenario.