'Dasara Darshan' for rural folk

Efforts are being made to draw tourists in large numbers

Rural folk from 29 taluks of the neighbouring districts will be brought to Mysore to witness the Dasara celebrations in Mysore.

They will visit tourist spots in the city and be part of the Dasara celebrations for which last minute touches were being given by vparious sub-committees and officials here.

Women, senior citizens and those belonging to the backward classes belonging to weaker sections, who have not seen the Dasara celebrations in Mysore, will be taken round the city to witness the different Dasara programmes organised at a number of venues.

The ‘Dasara Darshan’, to be organised from September 26 to September 30, will be split into two groups, first one from 18 taluks of Mysore, Mandya and Chamarajanagar districts from September 26 to September 28, and the second group from 11 taluks of Hassan and Kodagu districts on September 29 and September 30.

These people will visit tourist attractions like the palace, Chamundi Hills, zoo and Dasara Exhibition. They will be also be taken for the ‘Rytha Dasara’, an exclusive programme being organised for farmers.

In all, 174 vehicles will be pressed into service for their visit to Mysore. ‘Dasara Darshan’ will be inaugurated on September 26 opposite the Palace northern entrance.

Arrangements are also being made to draw tourists in large numbers during the festive period and tourist-friendly initiatives are being taken up. According to Police Commissioner M A Saleem, 30 kiosks are being set up at important points in the city. Constables and around 60 trained tourist counsellors will man these kiosks and assist tourists with information, brochures and tourist maps.

Kiosks will come up at the entry points of Mysore-Bangalore and Bangalore-Ooty highways also. Around 50,000 circuit maps brought out by the Tourism Sub-Committee will be made available to the tourists. One such kiosk was inaugurated by district in-chage Minister V Sreenivasa Prasad on Sunday.

A training programme for these 60 students of two colleges, including some foreign students, was inaugurated today at the Mahajana Tourism Development Institute.

All efforts are also being made to highlight the 10-day programmes and information on tourist spots through various mobile and other applications like WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, website and e-mail.

About 280 additional pourakarmikas (civic workers) will be pressed into service in three shifts to maintain cleanliness. Palace, Chamundi Hills and other places have been made plastic-free and awareness is also being created among the visitors.