Two weeks after places of tourist interest were reopened in Mysuru, footfall remained negligible at the Mysuru palace and zoo, the two major tourist attractions in the city.
The palace, which draws an average of 10,000 visitors daily, has seen barely 120 to 150 people every day ever since the places of tourist interest were reopened on June 8 after almost three months of lockdown due to COVID-19.
The zoo, which is on the must-see list of most tourists visiting Mysuru, has been recording barely 250 to 300 visitors every day since the last two weeks.
The curbs on inter-State travel to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have been identified as one of the major reasons for the abysmally low footfall at the tourist destinations. Zoo Director Ajit Kulkarni told The Hindu that most of the visitors come from neighbouring States such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu. “Inter-State travel has not reached normalcy. Once travel from Kerala and Tamil Nadu resumes, we can expect the number of visitors to go up.”
Asked how the authorities were implementing the government advisory to refuse admission to children below 10 years and senior citizens above 65 years, Mr. Kulkarni said there are hardly any visitors belonging to that age group. “They are not coming. There is enough awareness. Even if they come as part of groups, we cannot give any relaxation”, he said.
Against an average of 3,000 visitors the zoo records every day, barely 250 to 300 are coming. The number reaches around 350 during weekends.
Deputy Director of Palace Board Subramanya said most of the visitors to the palace these days are from nearby places including Mandya, Chamarajanagar and Tumakuru. The palace authorities send away about 20 visitors every day belonging to the risky category of above 65 years or less than 10 years.
The palace remains closed on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. The decision is aimed at preventing over-crowding and maintain social distancing.
The illumination of the palace in the evenings during weekends has also been suspended. Whenever it is illuminated, about 5,000 to 6,000 people gather on the premises, which in turn affects the social distancing advisory issued by the government.
Chamundi Hills, the other major tourist attraction in Mysuru, has managed to draw a fair number of devotees to the Chamundeshwari Temple.The authorities have decided to keep the temple closed during weekends as well as the four Fridays of Ashada Masa (Ashada Shukravara) beginning this week.
With the temple remaining closed from Friday to Sunday from this week, the authorities have decided to keep the road as well as the steps leading to the hill-top out of bounds for people. The authorities said the restrictions had been imposed to prevent the possibility of a mass gathering.