With the Jog Falls regaining its full glory following copious rain in catchment areas, the world-famous picturseque waterfalls has attracted more than a lakh tourists in just two months this year.
According to sources in the Jog Management Authority (JMA), a total of 1,63,855 tourists including 70 foreigners visited the waterfalls during June and July. R Srinivasa, Tourism Consultant for the Authority, told DH that June recorded a tourist footfall of 70,401 while it rose to 93,454 in July.
The number is likely to go up in August, he added. The heavy tourist inflow is the first in the past three years. The Authority has raked in Rs 16.39 lakh as entry fee in these two months. On an average Rs 3 lakh is collected as entry fee per month.
The River Sharavathi cascades in four branches from a height of 253 metre at Jog Falls.
Unlike the previous year, many dams in the Maland have reached their maximum level and some are close to the brim. All of them have turned out to be tourist hotspotes. The Tunga dam built across the river Tunga at Gajanur near Shivamogga reached the maximum level of 588.24 feet in June due to good spell of rain. According to the dam engineer, around 2,000 tourists per week visit the dam.
Linganamakki dam, the source of hydropower in the state, is only nine feet away from reaching the maximum level of 1819 feet. Ever since its construction in 1964, the dam has reached full level only 13 times and the previous occasion was in 2014.
