With only 12 days left for the traditional Srirangapatna Dasara celebrations, the pothole riddled roads and broken pillars on prominent roads and junctions welcome the tourists here.

The district administration had announced that continuing with the tradition, a five-day Dasara festivities will be held in Srirangapatna from October 7.

 But the administration has not taken any step to take up repair works on roads, mend pillars and clear weeds that have covered the fort, trench and other monuments.

Poor roads

The road which was the Dasara ambari route that proceeds to Tipu Masjid has turned worse. The Rampal road near Lal Mahal Palace is full of potholes and the road that connects Markandeya mantap turns slushy every time it rains, making it unfit for vehicular traffic.

Two pillars out of six near Ambedkar circle on Raja beedhi are broken and have not been fixed since the last six months. The Raja Beedhi where the procession of elephant that carries goddess Chamundeshwari’s idol is held is very narrow and congested.

Writer Sa Ve Ra Swamy opined that Srirangapatna Dasara that was celebrated by five kings from 9th century to 18th century should be celebrated in a more meaningful way.

Holding light music and dance adapted with Western culture should be avoided.

Janamana Samskrutika Pratishtana president C Puttaswamy suggested that the funds released for the fest should be utilised properly for development works and not returned to government. A Rangamandira, with a seating capacity of 300 should be constructed to hold theatre related programmes, he stressed.