Govt apathy hindering tourism devt in Chamarajanagara

Mysore, Jan 14: The backward Chamarajanagara district, despite having enough tourism potential, continues to languish due to lack of basic infrastructure and apathy of the Karnataka Government, experts said.

The existence of several places of historical and tourist interest like the Bandipur National Park, the Biligiri Ranga temple, Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, Male Mahadeshwara hills, Himavad Gopalaswamy hills and B R hills, within a radius of 100 km from the district centre, provide immense scope to the tourism industry. But precious little had been done by the tourism department to put in place requisite facilities.

The consequent poor inflow of tourists had taken its toll on the tourism industry in the district, which had reported low profits, underlining the urgent need to promote the industry, the experts felt.

Official sources told UNI that the NABARD, in its district rural industries project survey, had reported that there was tremendous scope for development of tourism in the district. There was potential for setting up 30 enterprises in various religious and entertainment spots to provide employment opportunities to about 300 people with credit absorption of Rs 405 lakhs.

According to the survey, the total sales revenue from tourism could increase from the current level of Rs 809.65 lakhs to Rs 1,148.25 lakhs, up by 40 per cent. The local people blame the State Government for its failure to take steps for the promotion of tourism in the area.

The sources said tourism in the district had taken a beating following the presence of dreaded forest brigand Veerappan in M M Hills area. However, after his elimination in 2004, tourists have been visiting various tourist spots without any fear. They said Himavad Gopalaswamy hills near Gundlupet town, covered in mist throughout the year and nestled amidst Bandipur tiger project, could emerge as a popular haunt for wildlife enthusiasts.

It was an abode of wild elephants. Similarly, Karivardarajaswamy temple atop a small hill, also known as Huligina Maradi Venkateshwaraswamy Betta, Madhyaragana temple near Shivasamudra, Chamarajeshwara temple and its annual festival in Chamarajanagara town, Chandramouleshwara temple and Dewan Puraniah's house in Yelandur town and K.Gudi jungle resorts could all be exploited for their tourism potential, the officials felt.

Lack of proper connectivity in the absence of good roads and rail link to places of tourist interest had affected efforts to popularise these spots in the district, bordering both Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The conversion of the existing metre gauge railway track between Mysore and Chamarajanagara to broad gauge was one project that could benefit thousands of unemployed youth and propel the growth of the district. Only two pairs of trains were run on the 61 km stretch and the gauge conversion could reduce the running time by half from the present two hours.

While inaugurating the railway line on August 22, 1926, the then Maharaja of Mysore Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV had dreamt about extension of the line to Mettupalayam in Tamil Nadu. Despite Karnataka contributing several Railway Ministers - S Gopalaswamy Iyengar, H C Dasappa, C M Poonacha, A Kengal Hanumanthaiya, T A Pai, C K Jaffer Sharief and George Fernandes - it was unfortunate that the project did not get sufficient takers.

UNI