Forest Department approval needed to cut vegetation near Lalitha Mahal Palace 

Mysore/Mysuru: A survey to identify the most suitable spot for the location of a Helicopter Terminal (Heli Terminal) in Lalitha Mahal Palace Grounds began this morning to pave way for Tourism Minister C.P. Yogeeshwar’s dream project of launching Heli Tourism with adequate space for helicopter docks.

The survey comes at a time when concerns are raised about cutting of trees in the area to house the Heliport facility. Tourism Department holds 40 acres of land in the locality and the vegetation has to be cleared to facilitate Heli Tourism and as such, permission has to be sought from the Forest Department. 

Though the erstwhile Mysore Royal family has consented to use the land owned by the family to operate and halt helicopters, the Tourism Department is looking for an alternative space for the Heli Terminal. The helipad in front of Lalitha Mahal Palace belongs to the Wadiyars and even the Court has ruled so. As such, the area has been fenced and is out of bounds for the public.

As a follow up of the Tourism Minister’s initiative, Mysuru Tourism Deputy Director Motilal wrote to Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) (Territorial) Dr. K.C. Prashant Kumar last week for carrying out a tree survey in the 40-acre land belonging to the Tourism Department. The DCF wrote back to the Tourism Department to mark the exact location of the proposed heli-terminal and send the GPS location for the same. 

Subsequent to DCF’s reply, Lalitha Mahal Hotel authorities, led by Hotel Manager Aniketh, launched a survey to identify the most suitable spot for the proposed Heli Terminal.

At the outset, the land does not have big trees and is vastly covered by a series of eucalyptus trees, fully grown and thorny shrubs. During a visit to Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel a couple of months ago as part of scheduling the centenary celebrations of Lalitha Mahal Hotel, JLR (Jungle Lodges and Resorts) Chairman M. Appanna, had directed the Hotel authorities to clean up the area which had become a hotspot for immoral activities. Now the survey is being carried out for tree identification, count and numbering along with their species in the area during which all shrubs, eucalyptus trees and plants of other species and varieties grown in the 40-acre land would be identified and numbered.

The Tourism Department, after finishing the tree identification, count and marking, will submit the survey report to the Forest Department for its consideration. It may be mentioned here that Tourism Minister Yogeeshwar, during one of his visits to the city last month, had said that the Government has planned to promote Heli Tourism in all the four Revenue Divisions of the State for which exclusive Heli Terminals will be built.