A ₹1.7-crore digital music fountain, cricket bowling pitch, amphitheatre, cycle track, and winch transportation to the hilltop are among a slew of recreational facilities to be created in the idyllic tourist village of Akkulam by Kerala Tourism to restore it to its old grandeur and to attract tourists again.
Art installation, renovation of the artificial waterfalls and pavilion of the swimming pool, restoration of a pond below the hilltop with bowl boats, and recreational space atop the hilltop figure in the ₹4.93-crore facilities to be created under Phase II development of the tourist village.
Adventure sports
In the pipeline are are adventure sports facilities, new play equipment for the children’s park, restaurant, interpretation centre for the visitors as in ecotourism destinations to familiarise facilities to visitors, entrance and office block, landscaping, and pavilion at entrance yard.
Landscaping, improvements in the surrounding of the existing swimming pool, erecting compound wall for the sprawling 6.5-acre property, borewell and water treatment plant, waste management, and electrification are the other components to be created in the tourist village.
Phase-I work
Kerala Tourism has stepped in as the picnic spot remains out of bounds for visitors with the ₹1.33-crore Phase I work not being able to address the core issues and give the much-needed facelift.
The tourist village remains closed since January 2012 after the Phase I work was entrusted to the Nirmithi Kendra.
Boating in Akkulam lake had come to a grinding halt, as the lake was infested with water hyacinth.
The removal of water weed and dredging has not been successful.
Administrative sanction
The government has given administrative sanction for the proposal mooted by the Director of Tourism for Phase II works considering the importance of the destination and on getting the nod of the State Working Group on Tourism. The works will be executed through the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) Thiruvananthapuram, in 18 months.
DTPC secretary T.V. Prasanth told The Hindu that the agency to execute the works is yet to be selected. “Though 18 months have been given to complete the works, the aim is to complete it before the forthcoming Onam as desired by Minister for Tourism Kadkampally Surendran,” he added.
Council formed
A Destination Management Council, chaired by the Tourism Minister, is in place for Akkulam and the council is initiating steps to resume boating in the lake and to ensure that the destination retains its charm after the Phase II works.
Completion of the dredging of the lake, removal of over 6 lakh cubic metres of silt collected from the lake, steps to check water hyacinth’s mushrooming, removal of bunds below the old and new Akkulam bridges along NH 66 bypass, construction of breakwater at Veli, and sewerage treatment plant are the challenges before the council.
