Bhubaneswar, Oct. 11: The tourism department is planning to add zing to Dhauli by starting a ropeway service and a musical fountain near the Parabodhi pond on the foothill of the monument.
The department has already earmarked Rs 1 crore for the installation of the ropeway and Rs 3 crore for the musical fountain to make Dhauli the only destination in and around the city to have the twin facilities.
The fountain will dance to the tune of music.
Tourism minister Ashok Chandra Panda told The Telegraph : "The famous Buddhist site has an important place in the heart of the Buddhist followers as the great emperor Ashok underwent a transformation near the valley while fighting the historic Kalinga War in 261 BC. We still have a rock edict of the emperor conserved by the Archaeological Survey of India near the Dhauli foothills. We have a great plan to project Dhauli as part of a living Buddhist site."
Panda said they were also taking steps to ban entry of big buses to this place, as only green or small vehicles would be allowed to take tourists to the hilltop. The stretch is very steep and has witnessed many accidents in the recent past.
On October 8, the minister had said that the state government had already made a provision of Rs 2 crore for the purchase of the specially designed buses.
"We have no ropeway near the city as the only one at Nandankanan Biological Park has been lying defunct since August 2013. The proposed project at Dhauli will provide a new experience to the tourists. At present, the only operational ropeway service is available at Tara Tarini shrine near Berhampur in Ganjam district," said Mrutyunjay Tripathy, a resident.
The much-awaited light and sound show is at present attracting huge crowd following its launch on August 7, this year.
The show, based on the latest three dimensional 'projection mapping technology' was designed by acclaimed experts, Projection Studio, UK. Tricolour India Schauspiele, a subsidiary of the UK agency in India, had launched it at Dhauli. The show was implemented through India Tourism Development Corporation and the Odisha tourism.
While the Centre provided Rs 5 crore, the state government's share was Rs 1.06 crore.
A tourism official also said that while the Odisha Tourism Development Corporation was preparing a detailed project report to construct a complex to accommodate the vendors, Rs 80 lakh would be spent on providing lights from NH-203 up to the parking lot near the Parabodhi pond to make the area safe in the evening.
