Public opinion to be sought for Open Street fest

The state government has made a serious note of the alleged sexual harassment of women during the ‘Open Street Festival’ and likewise, decided to call for public opinion on whether to continue the street festival or not.

As part of Dasara, the Tourism Department and district administration had organised the event on Krishnaraja Boulevard on October 13. Several women, including college girls, complained of harassment during the festival. The incident took a twist when the victims took to social media to air their grievances and also express displeasure against the organisers.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, who expressed displeasure over the incident said, "It was unfortunate and such incidents should not have happened. We will gather public opinion about organising the event in the days to come. If people oppose, then the event will be stopped,” Kumaraswamy said. “Mysuru city has its own identity and such incidents would damage the dignity of the Heritage City. We have considered the issue seriously,” the CM said.

According to the officials, the untoward incident was reported as lakhs of people thronged the venue. “Such an incident will never be reported in future and the state government is committed to ensuring the safety of every individual,” Kumaraswamy assured.

Tourism Minister Sa Ra Mahesh said, the event was organised to attract tourists to Dasara. Nearly, 1.25 lakh people thronged the street festival, which led to some unsavoury incidents.

The recent event was the third street festival in the city and previous events, which were organised on D Devaraj Urs Road, were a great hit among the visitors.