Chamundi Hills, Mysore Palace set to be devp

By Staff
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Mysore, Apr 15: Buoyed by the boom in tourism and growing popularity of Chamundi Hills and the famous Mysore palace, the Karnataka Government has taken up long term measures to promote tourism to cope with the projected influx of tourists in the coming years.

A detailed project report (DPR) for the development of Chamundi Hills was ready and would be submitted to the Centre for approval. A similar exercise was in progress for the Mysore palace too. Both the projects would be taken up under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), a Centrally-sponsored project in 63 cities across the country.

Tourism department sources told UNI that the recent decision by the authorities to prepare a master plan to develop Chamundeswari temple could not come at a more opportune moment. The Archaeological Survey of India and the State Department of Archaeology and Museums would conceive a master plan to improve the surroundings, the temple precincts and might take up landscaping.

The pilgrims' progress to Chamundeswari temple atop Chamundi Hills continued unabated, with the religious place attracting about 70 lakh pilgrims during 2005 and over ten million in 2006. It was increasingly being recognised as one of the seven sacred hills in South India, as the signage proclaimed at one of the hairpin bends.

Historically, the earliest inscription of Mysore dating back to 950 AD was found in Chamundi Hills and scholars aver that the Mahabala temple next to Chamundi Hills was constructed during the reign of the Gangas.

Situated at a height of 1,074 metres above mean sea level, the Chamundeswari temple's importance had grown ever since the Wadiyars of Mysore began to patronise it.

Karnataka Tourism Commissioner G Kumar Naik, who held a review meeting on Chamundi Hills development here recently, said various agencies and stakeholders, including the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA), Tourism department, KSRTC and Mysore City Corporation held different visions and perceptions. Project consultants of various organisations have been asked to work together and the estimated cost of the Chamundi hills and Palace project was around Rs 75 crore.

Mr Naik said decongestion atop the hill would be given priority in view of the quantum leap in the number of pilgrims and tourists visiting the temple. The thrust would be on scentific management of traffic with better facilities and the approach road to the temple and its precincts would be declared a 'pedestrian zone'. Hawkers would be rehabilitated as part of the decongestion drive.

Aesthetic illumination of the temple and the hill and better toilet facilities were the other aspects that the project would cover. The temple authorities had been asked to install a system in which there could be an automatic count of visitors to the temple every day.

The tourist inflow to Mysore palace had also increased in recent years, with the number crossing 2.5 million last year and expected to grow to five million in the next few years.

The tourism department had been preparing few additions to the attractions in the palace like introduction of a sound and light programme inside the palace premises and the same was expected to commence soon.

There was a debate on conservation of open spaces and greenery around Chamundi Hills, a repository of flora and fauna which needed to be protected, according to environmentalists of the city. They have called for a buffer zone of 500 metres to prevent further degradation of the habitat. They suggested that 300 metres of the area around the hills should be acquired by the Government and declared as a 'core conservation area' and the remaining 200 metres be declared a transitional zone with stringent restrictions on land use pattern.

On whether tourism promotion in Chamundi Hills could ignore the larger issue of conservation as the identity of the temple was closely associated with the hill and its ecosystem, Mr Naik said the forest department too would be involved in conservation efforts.

The MUDA had notified over 680 acres of land at the foot of Chamundi hills which would be maintained as open space, Deputy Commissioner S Selvakumar said.

UNI

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