BMC to partner with travel agencies to promote heritage of Mumbai

Aaditya Thackeray

Worli MLA and state tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray is soon going to get a tourism department in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The BMC has proposed to start eco-tourism activities around water supply reservoirs like Tansa, Vaitarna, Modak Sagar dam, where hospitality partners can be invited to upgrade, maintain and manage BMC guest houses as mid-day had reported on November 4.

BMC is also planning to organise activities such as cycling tours, nature trails, bird watching, star gazing non-motorised water sports, camping etc to attract more visitors. The civic body also wants to document the heritage and history behind the streets in Mumbai, natural inheritance, historical structures and natural history of the island city.

Accordingly, several tours and activities will be organised by relevant experts and agencies which will help in promoting and sensitising the Mumbaikars about the rich history and heritage of the city.

Explaining the move, civic commissioner, Praveen Pardeshi said, "After our recent renovation work in the zoo, we have been getting more than 1.5 lakh visitors monthly. People want to explore places in and around Mumbai and BMC can help them. Tourism is not our core duty so it doesn't make sense to make BMC staff to manage these activities. There are several good travel agencies that can offer packages at forts and guesthouses. The agencies can also organise activities in municipal gardens where they can collect fees from people and share the revenue with the BMC."

Meanwhile, the budget has also focused on Aaditya's another initiative - the 'Pedestrian First' policy wherein BMC has earmarked R50 crore for the improvement of footpaths. As per the plans, footpaths will be improved with stencil concrete, finishing or plain CC instead of paver blocks.

Inputs by Arita Sarkar

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