Sambalpur: With the onset of winter heralding in the tourist season, the administration and officials of the Tourism department are all set to restart the Hirakud eco-retreat festival in this district from December 1. District Collector Ananya Das has visited the site and conducted a review of the preparations. This festival is expected to revive the tourism sector in the region which is yet to recover from the impact of Covid19 pandemic. The tourist season will end in February. Officials informed Tuesday that 60 per cent of the renovation work is complete and the remainder will be done in a week.
During the visit, Das directed officials of the Works, Power, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation departments and the Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC) to cooperate and finish the work within the scheduled time. An eco-retreat festival is a seasonal event where tourists can unwind in a peaceful environment. The eco-retreat will be opened at Balbaspur to the left of the Hirakud dam.
In this eco-retreat, domestic as well as foreign tourists will get facilities similar to that of star hotels. The Hirakud eco-retreat festival will have 25 tents for accommodation out of which 20 will be in luxury category while five will be in premium segment.
Facilities like air-conditioned restaurants and bars, badmintons and volleyball courts, all terrain vehicles (ATV) ride, water sports and bird watching will be available for the visitors. Cultural programmes will also be held every day for the visitors. They can visit Debrigarh, the Hirakud dam, Gandhi Minar and Nehru Minar for sight-seeing purposes. An added attraction will be the ropeway for people with a strong heart. Among others, Jayesh Patil of the eco-retreat project and officials of all the respective departments were present during the collector’s visit.