The Tourism Department is all set to launch its ‘Take a Break’ wayside tourism amenity project in Pathanamthitta.
District Collector S. Harikishore, who is also the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) chairman, said the project was aimed at providing basic amenities such as toilets, food court, and restrooms at select points on the wayside of major roads in the State.
Mr. Harikishore said the Tourism Department had chosen Konni and Thiruvalla for setting up the project in the initial phase.
The department was planning to set up the first amenity centre near the block panchayat office in Konni on the Punalur-Muvattupuzha State highway.
He said the work on the Konni centre would begin soon as it had already got administrative sanction. The amenity centre will house a cafeteria, toilet complexes, a souvenir shop, ATM counter, and a restroom.
The FRBL attached to FACT in Kochi would execute the project in Konni and Thiruvalla in two-and-a-half months, using gypsum, glass, fibre, etc., he said.
The Collector has convened a meeting at Konni on Monday to discuss the launching of the work. P.G. Sureshkumar, Deputy Director of Tourism; Elizabeth Abu, block panchayat president; Varghese Punnen, DTPC secretary; Naushad Lal, Assistant Conservator of Social Forestry; K.E. Vinodkumar, Block Development Officer; and K. Ganesh, FRBL project engineer, attended the meeting.
In Thiruvalla
The second amenity centre would be set up at Mazhuvangaduchira on the MC Road in Thiruvalla. He said the work on the centre in Thiruvalla would begin once the government gave administrative sanction for the same. Mr. Harikishore said the amenity centre would be constructed on the lines of the one at Shanghumughom in Thiruvananthapuram.
