Context:

• Hanuwantiya island in Khandwa offers opportunities akin to ‘coastal’ tourism, as a by product of clean energy and water storage initiatives under the aegis of Indira Sagar Dam project (that forms the largest reservoir in India).

An island in Madhya Pradesh

• India’s biggest water carnival through ‘Jal Mahotsav’ is organised every year in Hanuwantiya, easily accessible via Indore and Nagpur. The third such ‘Jal Mahotsav’ concluded this year on January 2.
• Touted to become the first aqua city in the near future, according to reports, the site was nothing short of a coastal spectacle in central India, harnessing potential of water resources.
• While the state is best known for water attractions such as the Dhuandhaar waterfalls, picturesque marbles of Bhedaghaat, spiritual refuge by the holy waters of Amarkantak and mighty falls of Patalpaani, Hanuwantiya offers island tourism – the first of its kind in the state.
• This hitherto unchartered territory houses a group of small islands, Boriyamal, Sailani and Hanuwantiya, to name a few, that have been developed to promote water tourism potential of the state.
• These group of islands christened ‘Madhya Dweep’ add another feather to the state tourism innovative campaigns and efforts, highlighting usage of the state’s natural resources optimally, through aqua safaris and more commonly advertised, ‘water-cations’.

Source:IE