Doing a London

Close on the heels of the CM yearning for a Big Ben-like clock tower near the Vidhana Soudha, the Tourism Department has outlined its plans for developing a Central Tourism District which it hopes will become a hotspot for global tourists trotting through closely located monuments and destinations, like in London. The Vidhana Soudha will be the focal point and encompass the High Court, Planetarium, Dancing Fountain (LRDE Park aka Indira Priyadarshini Park), Venkatappa Art Gallery, Vishweshwaraiah Technological Museum, Cubbon Park, Freedom Park and the Raj Bhavan. The department feels that except for putting up peripheral infrastructure like toilets, eateries and creating seating facilities not much expenditure needs to be incurred whereas the potential for revenues are huge. Domestic tourist inflows into Karnataka grew 50% in 2003 while foriegn tourist inflows grew 40%.