Mysuru: Services of the much-awaited ‘Ambaari’, the double-decker bus, on designated routes covering prominent tourist spots within the city is likely to be launched by Karnataka Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) in December.
Speaking to TOI, KSTDC regional manager (south) U B Udaykumar said that the trial runs were successfully conducted in March. KSTDC had planned to launch the services during Dasara celebrations, but the same got postponed due to delay in clearing the route from BSNL junction boxes and Cesc power lines to facilitate the movement of bus and trimming tree branches by Mysuru City Corporation and other problems on the procession route.
However, most of the works obstructed to launch the services had been sorted out by MCC and BSNL. “KSTDC, which has cleared the bills of the authorities concerned, expect clearance of obstacles to run the service by December 15,” he stated.
The corporation is making necessary preparations to launch the service before Christmas as the tourist footfall is high during the New Year celebrations. “The bus almost likely hit the road from December 21. Senior officials of the department will be visiting the city by the first week (of next month) to finalise the date of launch,” Udaykumar explained.
KSTDC has purchased six such buses, of which four are meant for Mysuru and the rest for Hampi in Ballari district. Ambaari is a specially-built bus for open-roof tours, with a seating capacity of 40. Tourists on board the bus will get an audio guide (either in Kannada or English) the moment the bus reaches a particular tourist spot.
Ambaari is a hop-on and hop-off initiative for tourists to experience the city of palaces and other heritage/ cultural structures. The bus will begin its journey from KSTDC premises (Hotel Mayura) on JLB Road on every trip. It will cover 14 important tourist destinations, including Mysore Palace, Jaganmohan Palace, open-air theatre, Manasagangothri, Mysuru Zoo, Karanji Lake, Crawford Hall, CFTRI and St Philomena’s Church.