BJP Rajya Sabha member Lahar Singh Siroya on Monday urged the the Centre to develop ‘Crafts Village’ on the Bengaluru-Mysuru 10 lane-lane expressway.
Speaking during Zero Hour in Rajya Sabha, he said the Crafts Village can come up on the vacant lands along the highway and provide space for Channapatna artists to showcase and sell their toys & handicrafts and build restaurants to offer the most sought-after local cuisine.
Once the highway is ready in 2-3 months, with its several by-passes, majority of users will skip several towns along the route, such as Bidadi, Maddur, Ramanagaram - famous for its cuisines such as Bidadi Thatte Idli, Maddur Vada - and Channapatna, world-famous for its hand-crafted wooden toys and handicrafts will be affected and livelihood of thousands and local economy will be adversely impacted, he said.
Employing thousands of skilled artisans, Channapatna, - the ‘Land of Toys’ and other towns which largely depends on tourists in the form of thousands of commuters in cars, buses, and tourist vehicles for selling their toys and handicraft will be affected adversely impacting their livelihood.
However, any sudden customer drop will result in an economic disaster for the nearly 3,000 artisans and thousands of employees dependent on tourists for their livelihoods besides delivering a blow to the region's culture, cuisines, and heritage, which has been preserved for hundreds of years, he said.
MP Lahar Singh also wrote a letter to Union Minister for Highways and Surface Transport Nitin Gadkari on this issue and offered to coordinate with Highways ministry, state government, and local elected representatives to ensure the idea of Crafts Village becomes a reality.