JOIN USThis gallery will be a crash course on River Cauvery, its course
River Cauvery has a lot of stories to tell. There is no dearth of legends regarding this river, considered sacred. The Cauvery is considered the River Ganga of the South. This active and moving force is coming alive at a gallery in Mysuru.
The exclusive gallery to depict the history, grandeur, bio-diversity of the basin and socio-economic significance all along the course of the Cauvery is going to be a reality in about six months. The State government has extended a budgetary support of Rs 3.5 crore for putting up this unique gallery at the Mysuru exhibition grounds. It will be spread over 8,500 sq ft.
On Wednesday, Tourism Minister R V Deshpande and National Academy of Sciences India (NASI), a Government of India enterprise, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding the establishment of the gallery. It was the Karnataka Knowledge Commission which had recommended to the government to establish the Cauvery river gallery.
Dr Kasturirangan, chairman of the Knowledge Commission, was present at the MoU signing event.
The gallery will have audio-visual clippings, exhibits on the river’s course, tourism activities, fairs and festivals associated with it, threats to the river, conservation and restoration efforts, the research being carried out, besides an interactive virtual tour.
Deshpande said that the gallery would give further boost to tourism in Mysuru.
Kasturirangan said the galleries of River Ganga in Allahabad and Brahmaputra in Guwahati had become prime tourist destinations. The Cauvery river gallery would be on the lines of these galleries. A park would come up near Madiwala lake in Bengaluru, he said.
NASI president Manju Sharma said the Academy, along with the National Council of Science Museum (NCSM), would maintain the gallery for three years. Later, the State government would take its responsibility.
The Ganga and Brahmaputra river galleries have also been established by NCSM and NASI.
The project details have been hosted on the website of the Knowledge Commission (Karnataka Jnana Ayoga).