A lagoon opposite Roche Park on beach road is emerging to offer a new locale for pleasure boating. Since the lagoon was blessed with natural mangroves, the waterbody was poised to become a tourism hotspot.
Tourism Minister S.P. Shanmuganathan along with Collector M. Ravikumar and Mayor A.P.R. Anthony Grace visited the lagoon area and inspected it.
After the inspection, the Minister said a proposal had already reached the Secretariat for creating infrastructure at a cost of Rs. 2 crore, including a boat house and a mangrove park here.
The much-awaited mangrove park would feature landscaping, walking track and other recreational facilities. Plans were afoot to dredge the lagoon to introduce motor boating soon.
Earlier, this venue was almost ready to launch pedal-boating last year. Since the lagoon had three feet of water depth, conditions were not suitable for boating. The Collector said that efforts were under way to develop eco-tourism on Pearl City beach in Tuticorin, where glass bottom boats of Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve Trust were sought to undertake boat voyage from Tuticorin to the Vaan Island.
Tuticorin Sub-Collector, S. Gopala Sundara Raj, Tuticorin Tahsildar, M. Elango and others accompanied the Minister.
