Maha govt to form panel for restoration of forts

With an aim to increase the influx of tourists and to apprise them of the history of forts in the state, the Maharashtra government has decided to form a committee to look into the restoration of dilapidated forts.
"There are a number of forts in a dilapidated condition. To ensure that they are restored, we have decided to form a Fort Restoration committee which will work towards achieving our goal," Education Minister Vinod Tawde informed the state Legislative Council here today.
The committee will not only work for the restoration of the forts, but also come up with ways to increase the historical knowledge of these sites among tourists.

"The question is why should people visit these forts when they do not know about its history. People should get interesting information when they visit the forts. There are no proper guides. So along with the restoration of forts, this committee will work out a way by which information can be provided to tourists and thereby increase their enthusiasm," Tawde said.
Every year for a few days, we will try to recreate the royal theme of the forts for which artists would be hired. This will provide a lot of information to tourists in a realistic way, and at the same time help in attracting foreign tourists as well, he said.

The state government will request the Centre to denotify forts which are not provided enough money for restoration and also seek more funds for their repairs.
"Some forts are under the purview of the Centre, while some are looked after by the state government. For example, money provided for the Sindhudurg fort isn't enough. We will ask the Centre to denotify such forts so that we can try and provide extra funds for these forts," Tawde said.