Rains play spoilsport in Mysuru Dasara celebrations

Heavy rains that lashed Mysuru till Wednesday morning may disrupt the ongoing 10-day Mysuru Dasara fest celebrations, an official said.

"Mysuru city recorded rainfall up to 170 mm on Wednesday morning as of 8.30 a.m.," an official from the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre told IANS.

Mysuru's Additional Deputy Commissioner T. Yogesh told IANS that "the main roads where the celebrations are being held haven't been affected much but several of the low-lying areas in the city have been inundated due to the rainfall".

"But we have all the cultural programmes planned for the evening and they might face disruptions due to the rains although we have set up water-proof tents," he added.

Even as the authorities have set up water-proof tents for the festival celebrations, these might not suffice considering lakhs of people visit the city for the 10-day cultural extravaganza.

Mysuru, located about 150 km from the state capital, draws at least 10 lakh visitors during Dasara from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Maharashtra among others.

Starting September 21, the globally renowned Mysuru Dasara will go on till the end of the month.

Many villages and towns in south interior Karnataka, especially in Mysuru region like Mandya, Bidadi, Srirangapatna and Channapatna, have been badly affected due to the rains.

--IANS

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