Bhubaneswar, June 16 (FN Representative) The potential of Odisha as a tourist destination for both foreign and domestic travellers has not been fully explored, INTACH Odisha State Convener Amiya Bhushan Tripathy said on Friday. Tripathy said in spite of the rich cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, the State lags in tourist footfalls and stressed on the proper conservation and preservation of the crumbling heritage monuments of the state. He further said that lack of awareness among the people and officials is a malaise. Intach’s Bhubaneswar Chapter convenor Anil Dhir said the rich and varied heritage of the State is under severe neglect. The State Archaeology Department, he said, has only 221 monuments under its fold, while the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has another 78 monuments which are declared as protected.
Along with the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Konark, the total number of protected monuments in the State are only 300, Dhir said During the last two decades INTACH has already listed and documented more than 6500 heritage monuments in 16 districts of the State. Dhir said if proper surveys are made in the remaining districts, the list will surpass 12500, making Odisha the richest state in built heritage. Both Tripathy and Dhir were speaking on the occasion of a memorandum signing agreement here between INTACH and the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM). INTACH has been declared as a Centre of Excellence by the Govt. of India and IITTM is a leading tourism and travel management institute under the Ministry of Tourism Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Md. Sabir Hussain, the Nodal Officer of the Institute, said that the MOU will facilitate collaborative efforts to further common objectives through various activities.
He said that both the organizations will be working towards promoting academic and research facilities, conducting training programmes on culture education, heritage, tourism and travel industry management and related subjects for persons from the industry, academia, and students IITTM Coordinator Dr. Adyasha Das said that the MOU will lead to synergy between the two organization.She said the students of the Institute will benefit by way of field visits, conservation training, photography and content creation. The INTACH undertakes many heritage projects, and the students of IITTM can be involved in these projects, she said.