Mysuru: The view as one drives atop the Chamundi Hill, the lovely backdrop to the city, is breathtaking. As one nears the temple, there is a signboard that proclaims “Enjoy An Aerial View of Mysore From Here.” Most of the tourists and even locals stop here and gasp when they see the unpolluted city from this height.

However, what one should never miss is the night view when the lights are turned on and the city really looks like a fairyland and as Mysureans, one can never stop gushing about this God-created spectacle.

The District Administration has at last woken up to this fact even as the 408th Dasara is approaching and taken a decision to build a safer and better View Point. However, what was disturbing yesterday was to see a few tourists climbing up the platform and taking selfies even before the work is completed.

It is the duty of the District Administration to take all precautionary measures and not allow the innocent tourists to go on top of the platform and take selfies, as they are completely unaware of the danger lurking with a steep drop from the View Point.

Star of Mysore posed this question, this morning, to Dasara Special Officer and Deputy Commissioner D. Randeep and his team, who were on an inspection visit to the View Point yesterday, as to why they were allowing people to risk their lives taking selfies when the work was still going on.

Reacting to the question, Randeep said, “We are going to put up four to five feet railings and the work is going to be completed before the commencement of Dasara on Sept. 21. We are not going to allow more than four to five persons at a time on the View Point. We are also going to station a security person who will issue tokens to the people who can view the city through the hi-tech binoculars.”

According to Randeep, the decision to declare it a ‘No Selfie Zone’ will be taken only after a meeting with the Police. “It is too early for us to take a call on this. We are going to put up a booth where the security personnel will be stationed,” he said.

City Police Commissioner Dr. A. Subrahmanyeswara Rao, speaking to Star of Mysore this morning said, “We are going to take all precautionary measures to see that no untoward incidents occur. Right from the entrance of the Hill up to the temple signboards will be put up declaring ‘danger zone,’ and ‘be careful,’ signs in another three days.”

However, on declaring Chamundi Hill as ‘No Selfie Zone,’ he said that it was too early to take any decision on this as there has not been a single incidence of mishap or tragedy while taking selfies here. “We will take a decision only after a meeting with the District Administration on this issue,” he said.

No Selfie Zone

It may be recalled that the City Police had decided last year (August 10, 2016) to declare Chamundi Hill as ‘No Selfie Zone,’ in the wake of growing number of selfie deaths across the State.

The then DCP N. Rudramuni had told Star of Mysore that the ban orders would come into effect from Aug. 12, 2016 and said that caution boards will be installed at each restricted area with strict instructions to the visitors not to indulge in selfies.

The areas where the restrictions were to be imposed included the View Points on the way to the hilltop, near the junction of the temple area, Nandi and Gaali Mantapa. However, the imposition of ‘No Selfie Zone’ never came into effect. We have to wait and watch whether the plan to ban selfies will be taken or the visitors will have a free run posing dangerously for selfies.