Raja Seat in Madikeri has been closed to tourists for five weeks from Tuesday as authorities begin concreting work on the badly damaged Raja Seat Road, while the old auditorium at Gandhi Maidan is being demolished to make way for a new Rs 2.1 crore facility.
The road upgrade is intended to address recurring potholes and improve movement along the route to one of Madikeri’s key public attractions. The existing asphalt is being removed, after which gravel will be laid. Officials said concrete pouring is expected to begin in about 10 days.
Once the concrete is poured, the road will be completely closed to traffic during the work. Officials said vehicles may be permitted in emergencies before the concreting stage begins. Permission has also been obtained to close the road and remove roadside trees, according to the report.
The project had faced a delay because permission to shut the road had not been granted. A groundbreaking ceremony for the upgrade was held three months ago, but construction did not begin immediately. At a City Municipal Council general body meeting on October 23, MLA Manthar Gowda directed that the work be started without further delay.
Contractors began construction after the elected body’s term ended this month. The council’s final meeting was held on October 23. The sequence places the road closure within a wider transition in local administration, although the supplied report does not detail how the project will be supervised during the construction period.
The closure is expected to affect tourists visiting Raja Seat as well as people using the road for access to Gandhi Maidan. The report does not specify an alternative route or whether access to the viewpoint will resume in stages during the five-week period.
At Gandhi Maidan, machinery demolished the deteriorating auditorium on Monday. The structure had hosted cultural programmes, public meetings, ceremonies and protests, but its stage had become unfit for use. Plans to replace the auditorium had been under discussion since last year.
Engineers said the proposed new facility would include a large permanent stage, green rooms for artistes, restrooms, parking and other essential infrastructure. The Rs 2.1 crore project was initially intended to be inaugurated by this year’s Dasara celebrations.
The replacement is also aimed at reducing the annual cost of constructing a temporary Dasara stage, which officials said had ranged between Rs 60 lakh and Rs 70 lakh. The supplied report does not provide a revised completion date for the new auditorium or the road concreting work.
