Bengaluru: The State Government has set up a 29-member Advisory Committee under the chairmanship of Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar to resolve problems that might arise during the upgradation of Brindavan Gardens at Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) Dam in Mandya district on the lines of Disneyland in the United States.

The Committee comprises elected representatives including Minor Irrigation and Mandya District in-Charge Minister C.S. Puttaraju, Higher Education and Mysuru District in-Charge Minister G.T. Devegowda, Tourism Minister S.R. Mahesh, Transport Minister D.C. Thammanna, Lok Sabha Members Pratap Simha, L.R. Shivarame Gowda, and MLAs M. Srinivas and Ravindra Srikantaiah.

Confirming this to Star of Mysore this morning, Minister S.R. Mahesh said that the Committee has been constituted to look into the nitty-gritty of the project to develop Brindavan Gardens on the lines of Disneyland.

“The Committee will have powers to discuss and finalise all those development ideas that are suitable locally. Whichever plan that will prove detrimental to the KRS and Brindavan Gardens will be dropped,” he said.

The ultimate aim of the Government is to lift the Brindavan Gardens to a world-class tourism-centric place and the Committee is empowered to discuss and take a call on each development aspect, he said.

Other members of the committee are Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, wife of late Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, or anybody else from the royal family as recommended by her, Professor of Tourism Department, University of Mysore, representative of the Venugopala Swamy Temple at Kannambadi Village on the backwaters of KRS Dam, a professor of National Institute Rock Mechanics, Bengaluru, Chairman of Institution of Engineers, Mysuru, representative from the Airport Authority of India, and a representative from the Indian Railways.

Senior officers from departments including Water Resources, Energy, Infrastructure, Horticulture, PWD, Tourism, and Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police from Mandya and Mysuru, too will be part of the committee.

Sustainable development

Meanwhile a group of citizens from Mysuru has advocated a plan to develop KRS and the Brindavan Gardens in an environmentally sustainable way and constitute Cauvery Development Authority.

At a meeting held in city recently, the citizens were unanimous in their decision that ideas must be invited from experts and select the best scheme and design.

The scheme proposed should also enhance tourism industry, generate job opportunities for the locals and most importantly, utmost care should be taken to develop the various islands and forests along the river Cauvery.  Top priority should be given to maintain or enhance the ecology of the place, they felt.

There are over 200 listed heritage structures in Mysuru city which lie in a dilapidated condition and these have to be restored in order to safeguard its identity. These structures have the potential to attract tourists, they opined.  

Former MLC D. Madegowda, petroleum expert U.B. Acharya, former Corporator Gundappa Gowda, Industrialists B. R. Pai, Ashvini Ranjan, Narendra Shah, energy expert Bhamy V. Shenoy, Educationist S. Shobana, Agricultural Scientist Nanjapur Yaduraju and Social activist Usha Yaduraju participated in the meeting.