KALPETTA: About 70 per cent of the work on the hi-tech Karapuzha Tourism Project, envisaged along the lines of the Brindavan Gardens in Mysore, has been completed, according to official sources.
The project envisages landscaping, developing parks including pathways, improving roads with median lighting and illumination at select stretches at the irrigation-based dam site. The landscaping and illumination works are being carried out by the Kerala Irrigation Infrastructure Development Corporation (KIDCo). A slew of projects including an amusement park, herbal garden, children’s park, has been set in motion as part of the comprehensive infrastructure and tourism development of the area. The project, to be implemented in four stages, is estimated to cost Rs 150 crore, said the officials of the Kerala Irrigation Infrastructure Limited, the implementing agency. A botanical garden is also being laid out by the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS) at Ambalavayal under the Kerala Agricultural University. The Irrigation Department has handed over an amount of Rs 24 lakh to RARS for execution and maintenance of the garden. The processes of planting and grafting will begin next month. An amount of Rs 4.92 crore, including the Rs 1.10-crore allocation by the State government, has been sanctioned to take up the initial construction and beautification works at Karapuzha, an emerging tourism destination in the district. The initial phase includes a facilitation centre worth Rs 2.5 crore, an open air theatre and video hall costing Rs 87.99 lakh, and a Rs 39.37-lakh memorial centre and ‘herbs and spices’ stalls. To construct walking tracks and parking lot, an amount of Rs 41.19 lakh will be used. Landscaping and illumination works will be taken up at a cost of Rs 20 lakh and Rs 55 lakh, respectively.
The works on the tourism facilitation centre, souvenir shops and ticket counter are expected to complete soon.
According to the officials, the Centre would allocate an amount of Rs 17 crore to carry out the second phase of works. The Kerala Tourism Department had submitted a Rs 50-crore proposal in 2009 to tap the tourism potential of Karapuzha Dam, which comes under the purview of the Irrigation Department.
In 2010, the Ministry of Tourism sanctioned approval to a project worth Rs 3.93 crore. However, the State Irrigation Department (Major) opposed the project claiming its rights over the project site.
Following department-level talks, the Tourism Department has handed over the project as well as the initial allocation of Rs 5 crore to the Irrigation Department (Major).