MALAYATTOOR: A unique mixture of hills, lake, river, forest and churches makes Malayattoor, located 52 km away from Kochi, a beautiful and eye catching place. Malayattoor, which falls in Angamali constituency, has all the ingredients that make it an apt candidate for being a model tourism destination.
Malayattoor Kurisumudi, which has been designated as country’s first international shrine, Mahaganithottam and the majestic Periyar river act as magnets and thereby attract tourists in hordes.
Though, nature has been generous to Malayattoor, the official mechanism mainly the tourism department and the civic bodies have turned a blind eye towards its development as tourism destination. Thousands of devotees visit Malayattoor Kurisumudi every year. They rue the lack of basic infrastructure facilities such as toilets, good restaurants and lodging. Even the tourists, including the visitors from foreign countries, complain about the lack of facilities. The situation is such that a tourist is forced to think twice before visiting the place for the second time.
“How can the tourists enjoy the beauty of the land within a short time? More than a day is required if each and every spot is to be visited, but how can the tourists do so if there is no place to stay? There are no toilets and restaurants too,” said Sarath Krishna, a local resident and a social worker.
Manappatichira lake, spread over an area of 100 acres, is one the major attractions here. However, the administration has failed to develop it. Malayattoor- Neeliswaram panchayat had started a boat service a few months back but it failed in its purpose as people gave it a wide berth because it lacked basic facilities.
“The panchayat has leased the boat service to a private contractor for `15 lakh but till now no other development project has been taken up. Not even a boat jetty has been constructed by using the amount obtained as lease. If the panchayat had bothered to do the job in a proper way it would have attracted more people,” said Sarath added.
However, the panchayat authorities said that a master plan is needed for the development of Manappattichira lake and it will not be viable to spend the meager amount that the panchayat obtains as plan fund.
They also alleged Angamali MLA, who had mooted a plan to carry out development works in the area to promote boat service and hence, attract tourists, looted money allotted for the project.
“He has just paved the front portion of the the lake with tiles and installed 32 led lights around the lake. He has claimed to have spent `85 lakh for the works. It is clear as daylight that he has pinched the money allotted for the development works. The ring road around lake has to be given priority
but it still lies in dilapidated state. If the MLA had made an effort to acquaint the concerned government departments about the possibilities of tourism here, some major changes might have taken place,” said panchayat president Radhakrishnan Chengattu.Also, the inclusion of Malayattor under the circuit tourism project is a distant dream. It can be possible only with the development of Malayattoor- Kodanad bridge and the widening of existing forest roads.
If the tourism circuit project linking Malayattoor to other tourism destinations such as Athirappally-Vazhachal, Kodanad, Mahaganithottam, Bhoothathankettu, Thattekkadu, Kaprikadu, Kallil Kshetram and Kaladi becomes a reality then tourism here will get a huge boost.
“We brought the matter before the ministers and the other top officials. A project proposal was also submitted but the government is yet to respond in this matter. If the proposal gets approval, the tourism sector will get a huge boost as Malayattoor can then be packaged as an adventurous and echo friendly tourism destination,” said KJ Paul, development standing committee chairperson.
Commenting on the issue Angamali MLA Jose Thettayil said a project to develop Malayattoor into a tourism hotspot has been kicked off.
“A master plan has been formulated for Malayattoor and the government has sanctioned `45 lakh for it. The preparation of the master plan will be completed in three months,” Thettayil said.
He added that the master project will have two parts. One will be the Mega Project and the second on the Micro Project. Both these have envisaged to cover the entire development needs of Malayattoor. But to achieve the dream project the civic bodies too should come forward,” he added.
