THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The much-touted International Convention Centre Complex (ICCC) proposed at Akkulam in Thiruvananthapuram remains a non-starter. The brainchild of the Kerala tourism department is likely to be shelved due to bureaucratic lethargy. Though the tourism department initiated steps to get the necessary clearances for the proposal four years ago, nothing has happened so far.
The state government had earmarked 49 acres of land near the National Institute of Speech and Hearing for the project. In 2007, the government entered into an agreement with K Raheja Corporation to implement the project under the public-private participation (PPP) model and laid the foundation stone for the same in 2008. The Kerala Tourism Infrastructure Limited (KTIL) was entrusted to implement and coordinate the project.
However, the project hit a roadblock as some portion of the acquired land was a marshy area. Though the tourism department got other clearances, including those from the revenue and agricultural departments, in 2019, it is yet to get the environmental clearance from the specially-formed committee of the state government.
It was after the revenue survey that the land identified for the project was demarcated into dry and wetland. The government suggested constructing the complex in the dry area and maintaining the wetland as such. However, according to KTIL managing director K Manoj Kumar, the decision on the land reclamation of the three acres of wetland is still pending with the state government.
“The construction is possible on the remaining three acres of land. The tourism department has sent a letter to the state government to sanction the land reclamation for the wetland. But the government has not given its nod,” he said.
Meanwhile, a top official of the department said the scrutiny of the report and file of the project is underway. “We are scrutinising the file as it needs some more clearance. A final call on the matter will be taken soon,” the official said.
The KTIL was also told to revise the detailed project report (DPR), including the master plan, in 2019, as the features and amenities included in the project were outdated. The official ground-breaking of the project was planned for January 2020, but it is also in limbo. The proposed Rs 900-crore project will have a 1,500-seat convention centre on two levels with multiple meeting rooms, and a four-star hotel with 150 rooms.