The next time you set off to the Mysore Palace around Dasara, you could well be clip-clopping on an elegant tonga with the tongawallah giving you a running commentary on the sights and sounds.
This eco-friendly mode of transport will be given priority around a two-km radius around Mysore's most famous tourist site.
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Minister for Urban Development S. Suresh Kumar, who is also the district in-charge Minister for Mysore, held an hour-long discussion on environmental initiatives proposed for Mysore city with a three-member delegation led by British Deputy High Commissioner Richard Hyde here on Wednesday. He said a blueprint would be prepared soon to implement several energy saving measures and to seek UNESCO heritage city tag for Mysore.
The tag would enable the city get more funds from UNSESCO as well as from the Centre.
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DFID, a funding agency supported by the U.K. Government, will provide all expertise and technical know-how for the green initiatives, Mr. Hyde said.
Mr. Suresh Kumar said the horse-cart zone around the Mysore Palace was part of the scheme which will take off around Dasara, and added that they were a routine feature at heritage cities in the U.S. France and other countries. Tourists will be taken around illuminated heritage structures on tongas, once very popular in Mysore but now struggling for space amongst motorised transport.
Though Time magazine has ranked Mysore fourth in the world in attracting tourists, the Minister said, it is only during Dasara there is a demand for tongas in view of the tourist season.
Other green initiatives for both private and public buildings are adoption of solar energy systems, green architecture, rainwater harvesting and plantation of more saplings. Several projects could be taken up in the city under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, the Minister said.