Karnataka Cabinet meeting: Public entry to Nandi Hills banned for 4 days
The Chikkaballapur district administration has banned public entry to Nandi Hills and Skandagiri Hills between June 30 and July 3 on account of the state Cabinet meeting scheduled to be held at the Nandi Hills on July 2 (Wednesday). The order has also restricted the booking of rooms in the hill-top resort on Nandi Hills for the four days.
Justifying the decision to ban the entry of the public, P N Ravindra, Deputy Commissioner, Chikkaballapur, said there is only one road to go up and come down the Nandi Hills, and that route will see a lot of movement of government vehicles owing to the Cabinet meeting.
'From 30 June, 6 pm to 3 June, 3 pm, the entry to the hills will be closed. We will also require time to provide shelter and food for ministers, government officials, media, and others who will be arriving for the cabinet meeting,' Ravindra added.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, and other ministers are also expected to visit the Bhoga Nandeeshvara and Yoga Nandeeshvara temples located in the Nandi village before the cabinet meeting.
According to sources in the government, the decision to conduct a cabinet meeting atop the Nandi Hills was taken to highlight some of the recent development activities carried out in the vicinity.
This is not the first time that a cabinet meeting has been planned outside Vidhana Soudha. Former chief ministers J H Patel, S M Krishna, and R Gundu Rao had chaired Cabinet meetings outside Vidhana Soudha in the past as well.
Nandi Hills is located about 70 km from Bengaluru, and is a popular day-trip destination for the residents of the IT capital. On weekends, around 15,000 to 20,000 visit the hills while on weekdays the footfall is around 5,000 to 6,000.
Queen Elizabeth II had stayed at Nandi Hills during her trip to India in 1961. In 1986, the summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation was also held in Nandi Hills.
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