Sir,

The Manager of Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) proudly declared the success of the Ambaari bus rides organised to view the city illumination (Star of Mysore dated Oct. 25 — 7,000 ride Ambaari to see city illumination).

In this regard, I would like to highlight the horrible experience of this ride, as I was one among several locals and tourists from different places who were taken for a ride or rather cheated, in the name of showing the illumination.

On Oct. 22, to my surprise, I was able to book six tickets for my family on the upper deck for the 9.30 pm trip on the same day, paying Rs. 3,000. We were very excited about the prospect of seeing the city illumination.

We reached the KSTDC office premises half-an-hour before the scheduled departure. The premises were already crowded with families, both young and old, who had booked tickets and were waiting for the buses.

To our dismay, the buses scheduled for the previous trip did not turn up until 10 pm, testing the patience of those waiting.

There was considerable chaos as many people began abusing the staff at the counter and demanded cancellation of tickets and refunds or allotment of the same tickets for the next day’s trip.

However, the staff had no solution and did not even try to contact the higher authorities to resolve the issue. The buses arrived at 10.15 pm and, left with no other option, we all boarded them by 10.25 pm.

As the departure was already delayed, the illumination was switched off by the time we reached Gun House Circle. The rest of our trip was a total waste, as we could not witness the lighting at important circles such as Hardinge Circle, Chamaraja Circle and K.R. Circle or along Sayyaji Rao Road.

Now the question is: Who is responsible for such failures when people have paid so much money? (That too, without any parking facility for our vehicles. We had to commute to the departure point by public transport, paying exorbitant fares demanded by auto and cab drivers, who were making the most of the Dasara rush.)

Does this not amount to cheating the public and taking them for a ride? Is there no provision to claim a refund?

Will the Manager, who has declared this service a great success, find a solution to such failures and the disappointment we faced? At least, can the KSTDC make amends by either refunding the money or arranging another trip on a different day so that we can get a full glimpse of what we missed?

I genuinely felt ashamed thinking about what visitors from outside Mysuru might have thought of such arrangements. They will carry back very disturbing memories of our world-famous Mysuru Dasara festival.

—Rekha

Mysuru

26.10.2026