THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The much-hyped nightlife project of the city corporation continues to be a non-starter. The plan was to set up round-the-clock shopping zones and eateries on selected stretches in the capital. The project was piloted in the capital in February 2020 and the government had planned to implement the same in every city across the state by April 2020.
However, the project didn’t see any progress owing to local body elections and the pandemic outbreak. Nightlife continues to be a long-pending demand of techies and youngsters in the capital.
“Many major IT cities, have nightlife. Most of the employees at Technopark work on shifts and the city is dead after 9pm. There are no avenues for entertainment and no restaurants are open to hang out after work. Nightlife will help everyone adjust to working from the office again. Kazhakkootam is an ideal location for this,” said Rajeev Krishnan, an IT employee.
Earlier, the corporation had identified stretches, including at Kazhakkoottam, Technopark, Shankumugham, Karamana, Palayam and Sasthamangalam, for the project.
Mayor Arya Rajendran said the civic body would extend support for night tourism and nightlife. “We will pilot the project in one of the corridors, preferably Kazhakkoottam. We will then extend it to other major locations,” said Arya. Works standing committee chairman and LDF parliamentary party leader, D R Anil said vending zones will come up in many locations.