Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Mar 24: The world-renowned Eiffel Tower standing in Paris has remained one of the most sought after tourist sports through centuries. However, the replica of this tower standing at Dr Shivaram Karanth Nisargadhama at Pilikula has started to gather rust because of lack of maintenance.

This tower had been built by spending lacs of rupees when A B Ibrahim was the deputy commissioner here about four years back. It has been made of iron entirely. Items made of iron gather rust easily in coastal areas because of sea breeze. Therefore such items need to be painted once a year to retain them in good condition.

After the tower was installed, so far it has not been painted, it is learnt. As rainwater soaks the tower every year, it has been rusting faster. Many have expressed the opinion that the Pilikula management has not done enough to maintain this tower.

Under the corporate responsibility initiatives of some organizations, several projects have been developed here. But for lack of maintenance, some of them are moving towards destruction. The management here is expected to manage the things that are already standing.

The ancient Guthumane, depicting the style of living in coastal Karnataka, which was in good shape, has now corroded. Traditional museums inside the Guthu House have lost their colours. The Kambala field near here is full of weeds. The Guthu House was expected to stand as a thing that upheld the honour of the people here and become a brand in itself.

Pilikula has an artisan’s village where training in fine arts is imparted. People visiting this facility are not aware of this village as it is about two km away from the entry gate.

Executive director of the park, Gokuldas Nayak, says that enough government grant is not received for the proper maintenance. He said that the effort to do maintenance work for several facilities including Eiffel Tower and Guthina Mane at low cost with help from donors is under way. Tourism minister C P Yogeshwar, had said that the authority comes into being shortly, development works will be undertaken.