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Plans afoot to put Dussehri village in Kakori on tourist map soon
The village has enough potential to be declared as tourist destination, said district magistrate Suryapal Gangwar
The grand old Dussehri village of Kakori block of the state capital could soon be on the tourist map.
“We have big plans for the village, especially the grand old Dussehri tree that is said to be around 300-year-old and is claimed to be the mother tree of Dussehri mangoes,” said Suryapal Gangwar, district magistrate, Lucknow on plans to develop the village into a ‘tourist hub’.
The district administration’s plans have also been welcomed by the mango growers, who have been demanding ‘mango orchard tourism’ in Mall, Kakori and Malihabad development blocks that are famous for different varieties of mangoes.
The DM along with other officials recently visited the village for a “feasibility check” in Kakori. He also saw the famous Dussehri tree.
There is no scientific basis that the Dussehri tree is actually the ‘mother tree’ but the locals are actually excited that the tree is getting such attention. “Declaring our historic village as a tourist destination would be a boon for the village. It will not usher in development in the village but will also create job opportunities for the locals too,” said Manoj Kumar Yadav, Dussehri village head, Kakori.
“Declaring Dussehri village a tourist place will not only bring tourists but will also help in development of the whole mango belt. This will, in turn, boost the whole mango trade,” said Insram Ali, president of All India Mango Growers Association.
“The village has enough potential to be declared as tourist destination,” he said.
It is not the first time when the mango growers have raised the demand to develop the mango belt into a tourist destination. In June 2016, the district administration had proposed a ‘historical’ village for I-Sparsh scheme and to help transform the village into a tourism hub. The district administration had also sent a proposal to include the village into I-Sparsh scheme that is about improving human development index of the villagers and also to make the villages self-reliant.
A detailed project report (DPR) was also made and in the report, the administration proposed the amount of ₹1360.11 lakh for village development. Of this amount, ₹209 lakhs were allocated to public works department. But the move didn’t bring about the desired development of villages.
