Tourists flock to Mandya

The number of visitors to Srirangapatna, which is traditionally a popular tourist location, experienced a sharp rise last week.

On two days alone (October 24 and 25), a total of 28,000 tourists came to watch the musical fountains at the Brindavan Gardens at Krishnarajasagara dam. This was in sharp contrast to the previous months, in the wake of the Cauvery crisis last month, when the tourists’ inflow to the gardens had been minimal.

Many had also refrained from visiting the taluk because of prohibitory orders from September 29 to October 14.

On October 25, nearly 15,000 tourists flocked to Brindavan Gardens, according to figures released by Cauvery Neeravari Nigam assistant engineer Natesh. This was up from 13,000 people, who had visited the gardens a day before. Natesh said that these numbers are expected to increase during the coming weekend.

Good revenue

Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary also witnessed an upswing in tourists. Not a single tourist had visited the sanctuary on the day of the Karnataka Bandh, October 6. In all, the sanctuary had earned only Rs 98,000 between October 1 and October 12.

From October 20, however, the numbers began to rise steadily. Some 800 people visited the sanctuary on October 20, followed by 1,250 people on October 21. A peak day was October 25 when some 1,600 people visited the park.

“The visitors are able to see birds such as Cormorant, White Ibis, River Tern and Night Heron — among others at the sanctuary,” says forester Anand.

Tipu Sultan’s summer palace Dariya Daulat, Cauvery Sangam, Gumbaz, Srirangathanaswamy Temple and other places such as Balmuri and Edamuri also witnessed an increased tourist inflow.