The Hindu Business Line : Tourist interpretation centre at Bannerghatta opened

New facility: (From left) Mr R Ashok, Karnataka Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Mr I.M. Vittalamurthy, Secretary, Kannada and Culture and Information and Tourism Department, and Mr N.D. Tiwari, Managing Director, Jungle Lodges and Resorts Ltd, at a meet in Bangalore on Monday. ---

Our Bureau

Bangalore, Aug. 27 Karnataka’s Department of Tourism, and Jungle Lodges and Resorts Ltd have opened a Tourist Interpretation Centre at the Bannerghatta Biological Park here.

The facility, built at a cost of about Rs 1.5 crore, is spread over 1.52 acres, leased by the Forest Department and the State Government.

Inaugurating the facility on Monday, Mr R. Ashok, State Minister for Health and Family Welfare, and District In-charge Minister for Bangalore Urban District, urged the Tourism Department to make the Bannerghatta Park a plastic-free zone.

There was a need to ensure that other tourist destinations also were free from plastic wastes, he said.

Mr I.M. Vittala Murthy, Secretary, Kannada, Culture and Information and Tourism Department, said that eco-tourism projects for the budget traveller, students and backpackers were being planned, and that a special officer has been appointed for this purpose. He added that Rs 10 crore has been allocated, and locations and tourism activities for these projects would be finalised in about six weeks.

Besides the reception area, where tourists can make bookings for safaris and gather all other tourism-related information, the tourist interpretation centre includes an open air theatre — which can accommodate about 300 people, an audio-visual hall with a seating capacity for 50 people, shopping area with space for three shops that would sell eco-friendly items and souvenirs, two multi-cuisine restaurants (vegetarian and non-vegetarian), six fast-food counters, and a landscaped area with a sandpit for children.