The District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) has expressed interest in taking up the executive lounge project proposed by the Railways at the Ernakulam Junction railway station.
The Railways is currently in talks with the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) regarding the construction of a state-of-the-art executive lounge which would prove beneficial to hundreds of tourists and visitors arriving at the station. DTPC Secretary Jayashankar said that they were willing to take up the project if the Railways approached them with a request. He said the statement made by Railway officials that the DTPC had not responded when the Railways had approached them with the project was not true.
District Collector P I Sheikh Pareeth who is also the Chairman of the DTPC said that he has not been informed about the project by the Railways. “Talks were held with the Divisional Railway Manager Rajesh Agarwal and we evinced interest in associating with the projects of the Railways. However, the DTPC has never been informed about the project so far. I will be holding talks with the Railway officials soon,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ernakulam Area Manager P L Ashok Kumar maintained that general talks were held with the Tourism Department as well as the DTPC regarding the project.
He stated that since there was no response from the concerned departments, they decided to entrust the project to the GCDA.