‘Food court’ atop Chamundi hills upsets greens

NT Correspondent

At a time when environmentalists of Mysuru are worried over the ‘concrete jungle’ being created atop the historic Chamundi Hill, plans are afoot for the construction of a food court and a big complex on the hill.

Recently, this famous pilgrimage spot was in the news after the caving in of a portion of the road to Chamundi Temple. The planned construction of the food court has angered Mysureans. They feel that in the name of development, elected representatives want to destroy the sanctity of the which is the abode of Goddess Chamundeshwari, the presiding deity of Mysuru and the place where the ten-day Dasara festival kicks off.

“This is a silly idea. How can they take such an unilateral decision without consulting us? We have written a letter to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to decline permission for the food court project. Which devotee will come to the hill to eat at the food court”, opined Bhamy V.Shenoy, founder of Mysore Grahakara Parishat.

Shenoy told News Trail that it was very strange that netas are envisaging projects that would destroy the greenery atop the hill.

Already, a parking lot has been built against the will of citizens and without bothering to check if such a big parking lot is needed on the hill top at all. ‘’Didn’t they find a better place for constructing the food court,” he wondered.

After repeated landslides on the stretch of road leading to Chamundi HIll, a group of engineers have submitted a report to the state government to stop further concretisation and also evict those who have settled atop the hill other than those connected with the temple and the original residents. But the government is yet to approve the report due to local pressure.