Minister proposes restrictions on private vehicle movement up Nandi Hills

If all goes to plan, then private vehicles will not be allowed to go up Nandi Hills in the coming months as the ambitious Nandi ropeway project gains pace.

 If all goes to plan, then private vehicles will not be allowed to go up Nandi Hills in the coming months as the ambitious Nandi ropeway project gains pace. As the Horticulture Department gets ready to hand over two acres of land on top of the hill to the Tourism Department to build the upper terminal of the ropeway project, concerns arise about the parking space that is going to be compromised. 

Chickballapur district in-charge Minister M.C. Sudhakar, on Sunday, visited Nandi Hills along with the Deputy Commissioner and top officials of the Tourism Department to inspect what can be done to address this problem. 

“Once the two acres are taken away, the parking space gets reduced to one-third of its original dimensions leading to a problem. Hence, we propose that an alternative arrangement like a bus to ferry people up and down the hills would be a better option,” Dr. Sudhakar told The Hindu. 

He added: “On Sunday morning at around 5.15 a.m., there were around 1,100 two-wheelers and more than 500 four-wheelers. Some people start arriving between 2.30 a.m. and 3 a.m. itself. The number of visitors will be even greater during the winter months. We have identified a land parcel of 20 acres, about four kilometres away from the foothills on the main road from Devanahalli where these vehicles could be parked if the buses start plying.” 

The same model is being followed in Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta, another popular tourist destination in Chamarajanagar district. The same has also been proposed by the Chikkamagaluru district administration after private vehicles created traffic jams during the holiday season on the Mullayyanagiri hills. 

“We will soon have a meeting with the Chief Secretary and the Tourism Minister to discuss this. The government also plans to have a Cabinet meeting on Nandi Hills in the next one or two months and at that time, we are also going to place this proposal before the Cabinet as we would need financial assistance for procuring buses and other things,” Dr. Sudhakar said. 

The Minister also noted that despite the presence of three to four ticket counters, there were long queues to get tickets. “The plan is to implement an online ticketing system where the visitors can also indicate which vehicle they will be bringing so that parking arrangements can also be provided accordingly,” he said.