Foundation stone of Agra theme park in February

A theme park with seven segments depicting the history of India will soon come up in Agra, and the foundation stone will be laid in February next year, officials said here Saturday.

The park will be built on nearly 1,000 acres of land.

Expected to give an impetus to tourism in the region, the Seven Cities Theme Park will be an additional tourist attraction in Agra, apart from the Taj Mahal, Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) managing director Manoj Singh told IANS.

A process is on to obtain clearances regarding the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and related to the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ), which is a world heritage protected site, he said.

A high-level review meeting was held here Saturday. It was attended by Agra divisional commissioner Pradeep Bhatnagar, principal secretary for industrial development Sanjiv Saran and Sanjay Khan of the strategic partner for the project, Kingdome Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

Khan said environmental issues were taken into account and the project would be "absolutely environment friendly", with zero discharge, water harvesting and solar power provisions.