Ancient Khammam fort to get face lift KHAMMAM: The Khammam Fort - said to be the oldest fort in Telangana -- is set to get a facelift soon, courtesy the Union Ministry of Tourism (UMT), District Tourism officer B Suman Chakravarthi has said.
Disclosing this, he said that the UMT had agreed to undertake the facelift - which was estimated to cost Rs 5 crore following an appeal from the Telangana government. Earlier, the people's representatives from Khammam had urged the state government to enlist the help of the UMT in this regard.
He said that a team of the National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management (NITHM) had recently visited the fort for a preliminary survey.
Once the team gave its final report, the UMT would begin the facelift works, which would include cleaning of the fort walls, other renovation works, beautification of the surroundings, illumination and provision of basic facilities for tourists like drinking water, toilets, etc, he added. K Rama Rao, a resident of Khammam town, hailed the UMT move to give a facelift to the ancient fort, which had been lying derelict for all these years.
The fort was built over 1,000 years ago -- in 950 AD - by three ancient warriors named Ranga Reddy, Laxma Reddy and Velma Reddy who had come from Orugallu (what is now called Warangal).
They had also built a big lake - the still-existing Lakaram Cheruvu at the fort. Later, with no government support for its maintenance, the fort began to crumble. However, tourist attraction picked up with history enthusiasts and locals showing interest in enjoying the fort's architecture.
News Posted: 1 November, 2014
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