Organise Dasara events on a grand scale: Dist minister

Mysuru: Chief minister Siddaramaiah has allocated a budget of Rs 40 crore for the upcoming Dasara 2024 celebrations, announced by district minister HC Mahadevappa on Friday.
In a meeting with elected representatives and senior officials, Mahadevappa emphasised the need to organise events on a grand scale, in line with the decision made by the high-power committee chaired by the CM.The minister urged officials to meticulously plan the 10-day festival to ensure its success.
According to him, copious rainfall in the state has enthused people, which has pushed the govt to celebrate the festivities grandly. Siddaramaiah has allowed the Dasara budget to stretch to Rs 40 crore. The Dasara sub-committees, mainly officials, should maintain transparency in spending, he told the meeting. Along with the funds from the state govt, the official machinery should approach the corporate sector and get sponsorship for various events, he said.
The 2024 edition of the flagship festival of the state will be inaugurated at Sri Chamundeshwari temple atop Chamundi Hills on Oct 3 between 9.15am and 9.45am. The CM has been empowered to decide the VIP who will launch the festivities.
Mahadevappa directed officials to beautify the tourist city ahead of the festivities and stressed on fixing roads, especially in the central business district and in the surroundings of tourist spots. He directed officials to design five tableaux around the five guarantee schemes and one about the Siddaramaiah govt completing one year in office.
The Dasara food mela, which has become one of the popular events during the 10-day festival, will be hosted at two venues—Scouts and Guides grounds behind the old DC office and at Lalitha Mahal Palace Grounds at the foothills of Chamundi Hills. Though there were demands to host the food mel beyond the 10-day festival, the meeting did not take any decision about it.
But the Dasara special illumination will be hosted for 21 days starting from Oct 2. Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) officials were directed to include additional circles and junctions in the city for special illumination.
Deputy commissioner Lakshmikanth Reddy, who is the Dasara special officer, said 19 Dasara sub-committees have been constituted. Since the state is celebrating the golden jubilee of the renaming of the Mysore state as Karnataka, the Karnataka Sambrama logo will be used in the publicity material, he said.
Jungle Lodges and Resorts chairman and MLA Anil Chikkamadu asked officials to institute an award to honour the services of Dasara jumbo Arjuna and present it to the mahouts and kavadis.
MLAs GT Devegowda, Tanveer Sait, K Harishgowda, Ramesh Bandisiddegowda, Puttarangashetty, TS Srivatsa, MLCs AH Vishwanath, D Thimmaiah and K Vivekananda, Karnataka Exhibition Authority chairman Ayub Khan, police commissioner Seema Latkar among others attended the meeting.