TIRUCHY: Even as World Tourism Day was observed on Monday, a long-pending demand of Tiruchities came to the fore with various stakeholders urging the State government to develop Tiruchy district as a major tourist destination.
Despite attracting people from various parts of the country and abroad to its old temples, the district has not been able to engage tourists owing to lack of recreational and leisure activities. Although in the last few years several projects were introduced to attract tourists, they failed to deliver owing to various reasons.
Some of the projects which were introduced in the last few years but failed to attract tourists include the butterfly park near Srirangam and recreational and accommodation facilities in Pachamalai. The project to establish a world-class zoo at MR Palam and bathing facilities in Puliyancholai are yet to make progress.
Neelamegam, a social activist, said, "It is sad to realise that Tiruchy district does not have good tourist spots. The butterfly park has poor connectivity.
The zoo is yet to be completed, Pachamalai has poor roads and bathing facilities were never created in Puliyancholai. Though they all have potential to become major tourist spots, poor vision and planning have affected their progress. We hope the new government takes efforts to improve the tourist spots."
Although the Pallava Caves, Mukkombu, butterfly park and the Cauvery bridge have been popular among locals, increasing the entrance fee and levying fine for littering the spots have worked against improving footfall.
Guna, a native of Pudukkottai, said, "Many people from rural parts, especially from districts like Pudukkotti and Thanjavur, visit the butterfly park and Mukkombu along with their families during weekend or festival days. But, footfall has decreased in the last few years. In order to maintain the place clean, the authorities prohibit packed food and packaged drinking water in the butterfly park. But, all visitors coming to these places cannot afford to buy the eatables and water. Levying fine on violators has reduced footfall."
New projects announced recently, including a light show at the Rockfort temple and the construction of a 95-foot statue for Periyar, received good response from people as these have potential to attract tourists. However, residents said the projects have to be executed without much delay.
It may be noted that tourism portfolio was held by Vellamanadi N Natarajan, a legislator from Tiruchy east constituency, in the erstwhile AIADMK regime.
When contacted, district tourist officer T Jegatheswari said, "Improving tourism and creating new venues have been the goal of the new government. Several projects focusing on adventure tourism to attract the youth are being studied. Various proposals are being made to improve the existing facilities. We hope to make Tiruchy district a major tourist destination in the next few years."