Dharamsala will soon get a facelift and would house more tourist attractions than it presently does once a hillside sign saying Dharamsala like the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles would be placed on hillock of Indru Nag. The city will also get a 100-feet high national flag near the sign, according to reports out on Thursday.
The hill city, which is the abode of the 14th and current Dalai Lama, is a famous tourist spot and attracts travellers from all across the world for its connection to Buddhism. According to a report by the audit company KPMG, "tourist inflow in Himachal Pradesh over 2006-2011 period had witnessed increase in both domestic and foreign tourists." Most travellers in the city were from the U.K., during that period, at 14 percent, followed by the U.S. and France — both at 7 percent.
"A multi-crore rupee scheme is being developed with the help of Asian Development Bank to give the tourist places of Dharamsala a face-lift," Himachal Pradesh Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma was quoted as saying by Press Trust of India.
Rs. 25 lakh has been earmarked for the sign and flag project, he said. All temples in the city will be decorated with art and culture of Himachal Pradesh, the minister added further.
Dharamsala will also be the first city in the state to have underground dustbins as permanent fixtures. The dustbins would be GPS enabled and would be cleaned with hydraulic cranes. These dustbins, already in use in Uttarakhand, another hill state that faced massive forest fires recently, help in maintaining cleanliness.
For environmental reasons, there is a ban in Himachal Pradesh on the use of polythene bags. The state also does not permit smoking in public places.
