Plan to develop Nandi Hills sees little progress

BENGALURU: Plans to construct an entry plaza, a tourist interpretation centre and food plaza and kick off historical and eco tours at Nandi Hills have been in limbo for years now.
The masterplan for the project, prepared by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach), despite having been submitted to the state tourism department multiple times, has not been approved in its entirety.The project was first announced in 2017.
According to sources, this is because three different state departments — tourism, horticulture and archaeology, museums and heritage are involved in the operations at the site. Meanwhile, an official from the tourism department, who did not want to be identified, said, “There is a lack of coordination between the departments, which has resulted in a two-year delay.”
Nandi Hills was to be developed under an ambitious project called ‘Destination Development’.
“As per the original masterplan, Nandi Hills was supposed to have one entry plaza for waiting and ticketing and with bays for bus dropoffs, a visitors’ plaza which houses a museum explaining the history of the place and a food plaza where visitors can buy F&B. All these proposals were submitted to the tourism department more than a year ago and have not yetbeen approved. Historical and ecological trails in the area were also identified, where guided tours with signages set up all along could be organised,” said an architect familiar with the project masterplan.
Chikkaballapura deputy commissioner Anirudh Sravan said works may begin in the next four to five months and certain works like providing parking and lighting infrastructure and carrying out renovation and repairs to the fort wall will be taken up on priority now.
“A meeting chaired by the tourism department secretary was held recently, during which it was decided that certain projects will be taken up on priority. These include construction of parking facilities and ticketing counters for visitors, lighting facilities, improvement of the botanical garden and renovation and repairs to the fort wall. There are also some old mantapas outside Yoganarasimha Devasthana, which are in a dilapidated state and block the view. The plan is to dismantle these mantapas and rebuild them for a better view. A tourist interpretation centre will also be built to showcase the rich history of Nandi Hills. There are also three trek routes which lead to Nandi Hills and we have proposed that these routes be developed,” Sravan explained.
“Most of these proposals are at the planning stage and being vetted by departments. An amount of Rs 10 crore has been allocated for these works in 2019,” he added.
An official from the tourism department who did not want to be identified, said: “There is a lack of coordination between departments when it comes to Nandi Hills which has resulted in a two-year-long delay in the Destination Development project.”
Project details
Dubbed ‘Destination Development’, the project included revamping of 20 destinations in Karnataka — Nandi Hills, Bidar fort, Kalaburagi fort, Malkhed fort, Sannathi, Vijayapur, Badami-Aihole-Pattadakal, Hampi-Anegundi, Chitradurga fort, Srirangapatna fort, Mysuru, Melkote, Shravanabelagola, Belur and Halebid, Chaudayyadanapur in Haveri district, Devanahalli fort, Banavasi, Lakkundi, Talakaveri and Yadgir fort.
The project though is a long way from becoming a reality. An official from the tourism department said: “Right now we are working on providing only basic infrastructure at these 20 destinations that were chosen.”