INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KURNOOL: With Kurnool airport now all set to take off, there is a great scope for promotion of temple tourism besides giving impetus to real
estate development.The location of Orvakal, about 25 kilometers from Kurnool, where the airport is to commence its operations, is almost
lap, gave the finishing touches as the air project was moving back and forth in the last two decades.Parliament Standing Committee chairman
on transport, tourism and culture, T.G
Venkatesh, said that temple tourism can flourish once Kurnool airport is open
He said Sriailam, Ahobilam, Mahanandi, Yaganti, and Mantralayam are well-known places of worship in the district
former Union minister Kotla Surya Prakash Reddy made efforts to locate it at Kodumur
But the land was not favorable for developing an airport
It was during the time when Venkatesh was a minister in the AP cabinet that the location was shifted to Orwakal."There was stiff resistance
to Orvakal as high tension lines of Transco passed through the proposed site
We shifted the site way away from the HT lines and overcame possible hurdles'', he said.As the chairman of the Parliamentary standing
committee, he said he had negotiated with Indigo Airlines to take up the UDAN-4 scheme and officiated necessary procedural matters to
improve air connectivity at Kurnool, he said
