Year-round activities mooted in Mysore's expo grounds

The 80-acre Mysore Dasara Exhibition grounds at Doddakere, which remains lifeless for eight months in a year except during the Dasara, will in future host activities round-the-year.

Besides year-long activities, it is also proposed to make children’s entertainment a permanent feature by inviting global tenders for long-lease set ups like giant wheel and by separating the children’s park from the exhibition area. The exhibition will be an exclusive area for cultural and thematic exhibitions, presently held elsewhere in the city.

The ‘Urban Haath’ in Mysore, which holds a series of handicraft shows across the year and attracts big crowds will be replicated to make the Dasara Exhibition grounds attractive by throwing it open to different districts to showcase their culture, arts and products. Private expo organisers too will be asked to hold their show in this sprawling area with infrastructure ideal for exhibitions.

Efforts will be made to persuade the Indira Gandhi Rashtreeya Manav Sangrahalay which showcases arts from rural India by inviting artistes from across the country to hold its programmes at the exhibition grounds instead of the busy area near the KSRTC Bus Stand. The National Museum is presently located at the historic Wellington Lodge on the Irwin Road.

After discussions with the 11-member Karnataka Exhibition Authority Advisory Committee and chairman B P Manjunath, Deputy Commissioner Harsh Gupta said a broad decision was taken to keep the exhibition grounds active throughout the year.

Only the administrative wing of the authority is presently housed in the big building in Doddakere. Hence, it is intended to shift it and make the building available for exhibitions organised by private parties who chose the Mysore University grounds, Nanjaraja Bahadur Choultry, Jayachamarajendra Scouts & Guides Headquarters, or Co-operators’ Home.

The Mysore University is also not in favour of such expos and public rallies on the Maharaja’s College Sports Ground as such programmes are destroying the features of the sports grounds and coming in the way of sports activities.

Hence, permission would not be given to hold such exhibitions in those places and the organisers would be asked to choose the exhibition grounds as their venue in future. Besides, permanent facilities like protection from rain, drinking water, toilets, shopping structures and parking area would cut the cost of such shows, the DC said.

Besides, other Dasara-related programmes like farmers’ children’s and women Dasara will be arranged at the Doddakere grounds alone.

To facilitate all such round-the-year activities and to overcome complaints received during Dasara, a proposal to have automated parking system with barcording and erecting automatic gates, by inviting tenders from private parking management firms, would also be considered, Gupta added.