THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a move to stimulate nightlife in the capital city, the first-ever nightlife project in Kerala will be launched at Manaveeyam Veedhi in Thiruvananthapuram this month.
The plan is to keep the Manaveeyam Veedhi, the designated cultural corridor in the capital, alive and open from 7.30 pm to 5 am every day. A high-level meeting chaired by Mayor Arya Rajendran with the district collector and other departments have decided to ban traffic in the area during these hours to ensure a smooth nightlife. The meeting has also decided to form a managing committee to monitor the operations here.
Ever since the opening of the Manaveeyam Veedhi, it has been witnessing scores of visitors every evening prompting the police authorities to keep the traffic banned. According to official sources, the remaining work under the redevelopment plan, being executed by the Smart City Thiruvananthapuram Ltd (SCTL), will be completed before October 25.
The city corporation jointly with the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) will be launching a online portal to register for various events which will be held at the cultural corridor. “The events will be registered in two categories. We will be charging a fee for all commercial events and non-commercial events can be conducted free of cost,” said an official source.
The SCTL is also planning to provide additional lightings and more infrastructure for cultural activities before the grand opening of the corridor. “The cultural groups operating from the Manaveeyam Veedhi will be part of the managing committee meetings. There is a 200m-long-wall part of Keltron and a portion of the wall can be used for hosting open exhibitions. More wall arts will come up and we will ensure that the artwork does not convey any wrong messages to the public,” said an official.
The civic body is planning to auction three mobile food vending units. “Our idea is to auction the space every month so that visitors get to try and experience different culinary specialities,” said an official source. They also plan to shift the Milma booth at the Manaveeyam Veedhi.
“We will be handing over one of the two shops, constructed as part of the redevelopment for the Milma booth, to Kudumbashree. Currently, the booth is serving snacks and tea illegally as Milma booths are supposed to serve only Milma products. Kudumbashree will run one of the shops and toilet facility on the stretch,” said an official.