THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The world-class entertainment hub proposed to come up at Veli Tourist Village, one of the oldest tourist spots in the district, remains on paper even after a year.
Though major entertainment hub operators in South India expressed interest in submitting bids, nothing came of it.
The Tourism Department had appointed Kerala Tourism Infrastructure Limited (KTIL) as the nodal agency.
KTIL floated tenders twice for the project, envisaged in Public-Private Participation mode, but in vain. The state government had invited private partners to set up world-class facilities, including amusement and water theme parks and oceanarium, at Veli.
Bureaucratic delay?
According to sources, bureaucratic delay prompted the private partners to stay away as the land allotted is located within the limits of Coastal Region Zone (CRZ).
"The government was also sceptical that the project may invite criticism as the land is in CRZ," sources added. Earlier, an amusement park was proposed at Veli. Abu Dhabi-based Southern Fun City had expressed its willingness. A foundation stone was also laid at the site in 2001, but the project hit a major roadblock owing to fund crunch.
'Efforts on to rework it'
KG Mohanlal, CMD, KTIL, said the project has not been shelved and efforts are on to rework it. "Last year, we floated tenders twice. But, no companies expressed interest to participate in the process. So it was put on hold. However, the state government is developing the village by implementing various projects. We laid stones for constructing a world-class convention centre in March. We have not dropped the project. We will think of how to utilise the project in the allotted space,” he said.
Shelly Raveendran, co-founder of Trivandrum Development Front, said the front had participated in the pre-bid meeting and the project was expected to make a paradigm shift in the tourism sector on the western side of the city.
"It is sad that the project got shelved. With more companies setting up office at Technopark, more people would be interested in spending holidays at such places. The government should revive the project by utilising the 39 acres," Shelly said.