Want to tour the pristine Karanji Lake Nature Park (KLNP) on a ‘green’ bike? That’s possible now as battery-operated bicycles have been introduced for the first time at the popular tourist destination.
Marking World Tourism Day 2014 (WTD-2014), the Mysore zoo, caretaker of KLNP, introduced the electric bicycles on a pilot basis for visitors on an affordable tariff to go around the 3.5-km stretch of the lake front.
Pratap Simha, MP, flagged off five battery-operated bicycles for visitors’ use on Saturday.
MLA M.K. Somashekar, Zoo Authority of Karnataka Member-Secretary R.S. Suresh and Mysore zoo Executive Director B.P. Ravi were present.
“Sustainable tourism requires an ideal atmosphere for tourists. Tourism and community development is the theme adopted for WTD-2014. Sustaining tourism requires adoption of greener technologies and involvement of local community and entrepreneurs,” Mr. Ravi said. Special emphasis has been given for clean toilets, clean drinking water, plastic-free zone, no smoking zone and litter-free environment to create an unpolluted surrounding at the park.
Mr. Ravi told The Hindu that a private firm has joined hands with the zoo to launch the ‘green’ bicycles at the park.
The entire facility will be run and maintained by the firm and the zoo has no financial commitment on the new initiative. However, it is getting 20 per cent of the revenue from the enterprise, he added.
Mr. Ravi said the firm was charging Rs. 30 for one-hour ride. “We may consider introducing more such bicycles in future if the idea gets backing from visitors,” he said.
He, however, said there were no plans to introduce the ‘green’ bicycles at the zoo as the tourist spot was crowded and visitors may find difficult to ride the bicycle.
Mr. Ravi, in a release here, said the initial response to Mysore Tourist Passport is encouraging and so far over 5,000 passports worth Rs. 4.5 lakh had been sold while e-passports worth Rs. 1 lakh had been booked online on www.mysoretour-istpassport.in.
