A team of officials of the Union Tourism Department took a boat trip on the Kuppam and Valapattanam rivers here on Thursday to the sites proposed to be developed as part of the Malabar River Cruise Tourism Project.
The team, led by Darshana Mali of the project monitoring cell of the Union Tourism Department, visited the sites to review the project submitted to the Union government. T.V. Rajesh and James Mathew, MLAs, were accompanied the Central team.
An official press release on the visit said Ms. Mali complimented the efforts to utilise places of greater tourism potential in northern Kerala. She hoped that the joint efforts of people’s representatives, officials and the public would expedite the project.
₹5 crore sanctioned
Mr. Mathew said that ₹325-crore project had rendered a great opportunity for the development of tourism sector in the region that had been neglected for years.
He said the works for building infrastructure, including boat jetties at Pazhayangadi and Parassinikkadavu, as part of the project, were already under way. The project was envisaged as a joint initiative of the State and Union governments. The State government had already sanctioned ₹5 crore for the initial works, he added.
Mr. Rajesh described the project as an initiative to connect the rich cultural heritage of north Kerala. It would be an environment-friendly project utilising the tourism potential of rivers and mangroves, he added.
The team’s trip on the boat started from Kuppam Kadavu and ended at Parassinikkadavu. The visit covered Mangalassery, Kottakkeel Kadavu, Pazhayangadi, Thekkumbad, Azhikkal, Pappinissery, Valapattanam, and Narath. At each centre, the team was greeted by local people with cultural programmes.