Hyderabad: With a fast growing population, Medak is one of the most populous districts of Telangana. Yet it took a 19-year-old to promote the little-known district as a tourist attraction.
 
Created by Akhil Vishal Chintalagattu, Medak Streets is a one-of-its kind website that uses Google Street View to show some of the most happening places. “It is a unique attempt to promote tourism in the district,” says Akhil, a final year student of Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology adding, “I have utilised Google’s Street View technology to showcase the beauty of significant tourist places in Medak. No other district has this kind of a website; it’s perhaps the first for any district in the country”.
 
The idea for the website was born when Akhil learnt how to crack Google Street View watching his classmates Charan and Krishna Teja set-up a similar site for his college. “I learnt how to create street views from them and I thought why not implement this technology to promote tourism in my hometown which has so many places worth visiting,” says Akhil, whose idea has been a hit since its launch in February with over 50,000 views.
 
Before setting up the website, Akhil a resident of Sangareddi, which is the district headquarters of Medak, spent a week taking photographs of different locations and submitting it to Google for verification. “My father is an academician, so he came along with me during my trips in and around Medak. I went to all the popular locations and took photographs. My father also helped me with the data and verified information for the site. Medak is not very big and you can tour the entire district in two-three days,” he says.