Centre sanctions ₹91.72 cr for pilgrim tourism

State will soon submit a project report on the schemes listed in the proposal

Kerala has secured the Centre’s approval for a ₹91.72-crore proposal to improve tourist amenities in 147 pilgrim centres of different faiths across the State.

The Ministry of Tourism has approved the proposal as part of its Tourism Infrastructure Development Plan. The State would soon submit a detailed project report on the schemes listed in the proposal to the Centre, Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said. The government, he said, proposed to give top priority to development of pilgrim tourism considering the growing importance of the segment.

The project will be implemented as part of the Pilgrim Tourism Third Circuit Development Plan under which basic infrastructures in major Hindu, Muslim and Christian pilgrim centres in all the 14 districts will be created by demarcating them into seven clusters. Facilities for pilgrims, including rest rooms, food courts, halls for serving food and toilets will be built as part of the project.

In northern-most Kasaragod, which comes under the first cluster, projects worth ₹10.91 crore will be implemented. Wayanad, Kannur and Kozhikode districts would together get projects worth ₹9.29 crore. The third cluster, which has projects costing ₹9.03 crore, will benefit Palakkad and Malappuram districts. Thrissur, Ernakulam and Idukki districts will be part of the fourth cluster, where projects worth ₹14.24 crore will be taken up.

The fifth cluster covering Kottayam and Alappuzha would get projects with a combined outlay of ₹19.91core. Pathanamthitta, identified as the sixth cluster, will get ₹11.80 crore for various projects, while ₹12.16 has been set apart for the seventh cluster covering Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts.

The pilgrim centres that would be covered through the projects include Ananthapadmanabhaswamy Temple, Kasaragod; Thirunavaya Nava Mukunda Temple, Malappuram;, Valiyapalli Juma Masjid, Ponnani; Sri Visalakshi Sametha Sri Viswanathaswamy Temple, Kalpathy; Thali Siva Temple, Pattambi; Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi temples, Thrissur; Ayyappa Seva Sangham, Erumeli; Nainar Church, Kanjirappally; St. Mary’s Church, Chambakkulam, Alappuzha; Marthoma Church, Thiruvalla, Pathanamthittta; and Parabrahma Temple, Oachira, Kollam.