JOIN USThe City of Palaces will soon add another feather to its cap. It will be home to the country’s first skywheel, which will come up at a cost of Rs 30 crore.
The skywheel, which is a sophisticated form of the giant wheel - consisting of air-conditioned and well-furnished cabins with seating arrangements for four people - will offer a panoramic view of the city’s places of tourist interest within a radius of 20 km.
The Ranganathittu bird sanctuary, places of tourist interest in Srirangapatna, the Brindavan Gardens in KRS, Chamundi Hills, the big Nandi, the Mysore Palace, Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens and the Karanjikere tank are among the places that will be within the visual range of the skywheel, which will be built using the most modern safety technology.
B P Manjunath, the Karnataka Exhibition Authority (KEA) chairperson, told reporters in the city on Wednesday that the skywheel planned in Mysore - to be called ‘Mysore Eye’ - would be the third in the world, after the London Eye and Singapore Skyer.
He said the KEA’s efforts in the last three years had borne fruit and work on the project - on land measuring two acres - would begin in 15 days and completed in four months. KEA is undertaking the project, the approval for which was given at the recent Global Investors’ Meet held in Bangalore.
Innovative Studio Private Limited, which has set up the Innovative Film City in Bidadi, will construct the skywheel, he said.
While the entry fee per person will be fixed in the range of Rs 500 to Rs 600, a decision on family packages and students’ discount would be taken later, Manjunath said. He said that the skywheel will be the latest addition to the list of tourist destinations in the State’s cultural capital, which attracts lakhs of visitors every year.