The Rs. 4.5 crore Thanneerchal tourism project at Tripunithura would be completed soon, as five tenders for the project have been awarded simultaneously. Addressing a press meet here on Friday, R. Venugopal, the chairman of Tripunithura municipal council, said that the projects worth Rs. 75 lakh would be expedited by March and would be partly opened for the public by Vishu this year.
The inauguration of the works will be held on Sunday at the site in Chitrapuzha, Irimpanam, on Sunday at 9 a.m. So far, only the initial work of building the granite wall on the sides of the earmarked area of the lake formed by Chitrapuzha river has been done, for which the Kochi Refinery-BPCL had provided Rs.1 crore.
Two more phases
Further works of the project would cost Rs 3.5 crore and the whole project would be completed by 2013 March in two further phases. The landscaping and other works have been designed by architect S. Gopakumar of the Kumar Group.
The landscaping of the area which would be set in more than 12 acres of land would have a walkway of about 2.5 km. A town square with children's park, open air stage, indoor play area for children, and pedal boat facility in the lake are the initial targets.
In further phases, the Thanneerchal would be connected to the Hill Palace, which is at a distance of 500 metres. This would open up more avenues of tourism.
This is among the 29 projects in various stages of development, said Mr. Venugopal. A Koothambalam at the Layam Ground will be built for which K. Babu, Minister for Excise, has provided Rs. 35 lakh from the MLA fund. The foundation stone was laid on Saturday.
Some of the other projects of the Municipality include ‘Santhwanam', a project to accommodate the elderly. The five-storey building would provide home for a hundred people. Yet another Rs.2 crore project at Pampadythazham, Eroor, would also include housing for the poor.
