New tech for Golconda's light-sound show

The sound and light show at the historic Golconda fort here is proposed to be shut down for a month or so shortly to facilitate installation of modern gadgets and infuse fresh life into the attraction, Telangana tourism department officials said.

The sound and light systems were installed two decades ago and have not been updated to keep pace with the times.

Adverse criticism has, however, now prompted the department to go for a revamp.

While the script and storyline of the show, which has the voice-over of Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, would remain the same, what would change are the virtually outdated systems that are of late seen by some as a drag.

"We have approved Rs 50 lakh for renovation. For the size of the show, we plan to spend Rs 4-5 crore," a department official told PTI while noting that the show is 20-year-old.

"We were doing it in bit and pieces (to improve the show in terms of sound and lighting systems). But that's not solving the problem. Now the (tourist) season is going on.

Once the season gets over by January-February, we will have to close it down for a month or so, and then do it (revamping the sound and light systems)," he said.

"Control systems (light and sound) have to change. We will install modern gadgets," the official said.

The glorious past of Golconda fort is narrated in the show, but some say that the present sound and light effects are a "let-down", he added.

Department officials also said things were looking up on the tourism front in Telangana, where monthly turnover of Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation (TSTDC) is touching Rs 10 crore on an average now, compared with less than Rs 6 crore from the same units which were earlier under the undivided Andhra Pradesh.

The tourism department, in fact, is planning to spend Rs 20 crore over the next six months to renovate some of its properties.

While the historical city of Hyderabad is Telangana tourism's "unique selling proposition", efforts are on to aggressively promote attractions in other parts of the new state which came into being on June 2 last year, particularly those in Warangal, Adilabad and Nizamabad districts.

The Telangana government has already expressed its desire to develop Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple on Yadagirigutta in Nalgonda district on the lines of famous Tirumala-Tirupati and plans are afoot for a massive development of that area.

Tourism department officials said cottages are proposed to be built in Ramappa and Laknavaram islands in Warangal district and resort at Kadem in Adilabad district.