Pune: Finally, there is good news for avid trekkers in and around the city. Your favourite destination Sinhagad Fort has been opened up for tourist activities by the district administration. This means that now you won't be turned away by any officials on the pretext of any ban in and around the fort.

The administration had closed the forts in March in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. After a wait of nine long months, tourists can finally return to one of their favourite spots in the city, which is the Sinhagad Fort. The fort opens its gates for the tourists today.

The demand was recently put forth by the Nationalist Congress Party leader Rupali Chakankar and had met the district collector Dr Rajesh Deshmukh. A decision from his side was then made to start the activities on the fort.

Locals around Sinhagad fort and stall owners at the site had also raised their voices as the fort was still not made open to tourists and the businesses supporting the tourism activity were poorly hit.

They had demanded the district collector and the forest department, to revoke the seven-month long ban. They have claimed that the loss of business has pushed hundreds of families into starvation.

In the past one month, the district administrative authorities have reported a noticeable increase in trekking activity after the historic forts and tourist spots such as, Rajgad, Torna, Lohagad, Visapur, among others, were reopened from the first week of November.