Ranchi | March 12, 2015: Jharkhand being a mineral rich state, the state tourism department has decided to start industries and mining tourism in the state. Tourism secretary Avinash Kumar said, "Not many places offer mining tourism and once it is started in the state and people get to know about it, tourist inflow will increase as many people are curious to see what happens inside mines."
In order to make mining and industries tourism a reality, the department is planning to contact various companies like Tata, BSL and others. Kumar said, "We will ask them to allow the common people to see such activities where the business of companies won't be hampered. While it won't be possible to allow access of hundreds of people at once, it can be done in a regulated manner."
Kumar cited the example of the time when the Bollywood hit movie 'Kala Patthar' was released. "I was a kid back then and everybody I knew wished to go inside the mines after watching the film. I got a chance to go inside a mine with my father once and I could not help being excited when I wore a minor's helmet with a torch and walked inside the mines," he said.
He also considered the idea of conducting visits to dead and abandoned mines. "We can convert the dead mines which have been abandoned after the work, into museums for commoners. In the museum, we will show the complete procedure of how miners work inside the mines. It will definitely be an exciting experience for them," said Kumar.
(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)