People visiting the tourist city of Mysuru will have an added attraction shortly - a public gallery of the river Cauvery.
The gallery will capture the etymological, ecological, cultural,heritage and social characteristics of the river that takes birth in Kodagu and has assumed prominence because of the Krishnarajasagar dam and the Brindavan Gardens.
The gallery, which will also serve as a learning centre for students, is said to help conservation of the river, showcase its cultural-socio-economic aspects and thus, provide more understanding of the river in a holistic manner.
It will have carefully thought out exhibits, detailed satellite images, multi-media displays and digital video-shows that would highlight the rich contribution the river makes as it flows down through the state to Tamil Nadu to join the sea.
The public gallery for Cauvery was set up based on the recommendations of Karnataka Knowledge Commission. The proposal for this had been announced by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the state Budget.
According to sources, Higher Education and Tourism Minister R V Deshpande held a meeting on April 10 in Bengaluru in this connection, asked the concerned officers of the state and Member Secretary of the KJA to visit Mysuru next week and finalise a building suitable to this project. A building with 10,000 sq feet area with ample space for parking would be identified, he said in the meeting.
The minister expressed hope that the gallery would be available to the public by the end of this year.
National Academy of Sciences of India (NASI) former president Manju Sharma, who briefed about the Cauvery Gallery, stated the NASI had already set up Ganga Gallery at Allahabad and Brahamaputra Gallery at Guwahati. The Cauvery Gallery proposed in Mysuru would be set up on the similar lines and this would become a pride of Karnataka and a centre of attraction for people visiting Mysuru.
She said once the location was identified and formalities of handing over the site was completed, NASI would work out the details of project implementation, oversee the same and would involve NCSM in setting up electronic displays and other associated exhibits. The project would take about nine months to complete after location identification.
After setting up of the gallery, NASI would run it for three years, train local operational personnel and then hand it over to the state government or to any agency.
