ALAPPUZHA: The Alappuzha Rest House, where Indian Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai and Rajiv Gandhi had resided during their visits here, is on the verge of destruction. The Rest House of Public Works Department (PWD), constructed in 1935 by the British, stands testimony to government negligence and apathy.
The Rest House, situated close to the Alappuzha beach and the sea pier, had played host to many VVIPS till 2002. However, with the opening of State Tourism Department’s Guest House near NH-47 in 2002, the state government started to ignore the Rest House.
Kerala’s first Chief Minister E M S Namboothiripad, V V Giri, former Indian President K R Narayanan, Chief Justices of Supreme Court, Chief Justice of various High Courts, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Sheikh Abdulla, Frontier Gandhi Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan were some of the reputed guests of the Rest House.
Janasakthi town general secretary Salim Pulimootil said whenever EMS had stayed in the rest house, he would go for a stroll on the Alappuzha Beach with some comrades without police escort.
“Earlier, it was very difficult to get a room in the Rest House and we had to book many months in advance.” The Rest House has 12 rooms including four AC rooms. Two AC rooms have not been functioning for years and most of the rooms are not in good condition. The rent for a single bedroom is Rs 100 while that for a double bedroom is Rs 150. Only Government VIPS can avail themselves of the facility of AC room. Earlier, the Rest House had a canteen which provided tasty meals for Rs 12.
Now Rest House has a manager, watcher, butler and four daily wages labourers, who have been working for over 14 years.
As the PWD had failed to clear the phone bills and water charges, the BSNL and Water Authority had already disconnected the connections to the Rest House years ago.
Though the PWD had submitted a proposal of Rs 28 lakh for the renovation of the Rest House in 2008, the state government denied it administrative sanction in 2009.
Finance Minister Thomas Isaac, who often visits the Rest House, has not done nothing but allot money for buying two television sets. Sources said that the Revenue Staff and some police personnel use the Rest House on the eve of Republic Day and Independence Day for boozing.
Quite embarrassing was when UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor who visited the district recently turned down the hospitality of the Rest House, that was once flooded with VVIPs.