THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Months after being suspended owing to safety concerns, floating bridges, one of the much-hyped adventure tourism products of Kerala, remain closed to tourists.
The bridges were introduced as a signature infrastructure to boost beach adventure tourism and woo more tourists. Seven such bridges were installed across the state.
The unpredictable weather has been throwing up challenges to beach adventure tourism activities initiated by Kerala Tourism and Kerala Adventure Tourism Promotion Society (KATPS).
As many as 15 people, including children, were injured after the floating bridge at Varkala Papanassam Beach collapsed owing to high tide and rough waves last March.
The incident cast a shadow over beach adventure tourism. Sources said the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Kozhikode, is carrying out a comprehensive study on the feasibility and stability of the infrastructure. “The study is on. The NIT will submit a report to the government, which will take a final decision on reopening the infrastructure.,” said a senior official of the Tourism Department.
NIT official said the study was carried out on two of the seven floating bridges. “We studied the bridge at Beypore and are satisfied with the safety conditions and stability. Weather conditions are drastically changing and when they get rough, such activities should be suspended immediately. We are waiting for the intimation from the tourism department to resume the inspections and study of the rest of the floating bridges,” said Professor T M Madhavan Pillai of the Department of Civil Engineering, NIT Kozhikode.
To ensure the safety of adventure tourism infrastructure, the tourism department has initiated efforts to strengthen the expert committee.
“Kerala is the only state in the country to have a set of guidelines for adventure tourism activities and the department has decided to strengthen the expert committee. The committee will be undertaking regular inspections of these infrastructures to ensure the safety of the tourists,” said the tourism department official.
The department has also initiated efforts to improve communication to disseminate timely weather warnings to the operators to avoid accidents.