Thiruvananthapuram is set to become a more traveller-friendly district with the district panchayat readying to launch Vazhiyambalam or wayside rest houses at 18 locations.
The rest houses will be set up at areas, including Nanniyode, Anad, Palode, Parassala, Muthalappozhi, Aruvippuram, and Karakulam, as well as at Ponmudi, Varkala, and Aruvikkara, with tourist welfare in mind.
The rest houses will have toilet and bathroom facilities for men and women, dressing rooms and separate rooms for women, apart from common rooms. The ₹3.5-crore scheme is being launched especially with the aim of alleviating the inconvenience faced by women during journeys, district panchayat president V.K. Madhu has said.
The first such Vazhiyambalam is nearing completion in the Kallara grama panchayat, and will be inaugurated by the end of this month.
Foundation has been laid for the rest house at Parassala, and those at Aryanad, Anad, Aruvikkara, Nanniyode, Vembayam, Aryancode and Kamukincode are in the preliminary stage of construction.
