TIRUPPUR: Boat rides at Thirumurthy dam in Tiruppur, suspended 15 years ago for safety reasons, are set to resume in 2025. This project will be implemented with a 50% profit sharing between the Dhali town panchayat and tribal people.
To improve tourism development activities in the district, the administration decided to resume boat rides at Thirumurthy Dam. Initially, the district administration granted permission to members of Dhali town panchayat to use Rs 5 lakh to purchase boats in the first phase of the project. Following this, the panchayat tendered a contract to a private company in Kolkata to manufacture nine pedal boats.
A senior official from Dhali town panchayat said, “A boat house was set up by the panchayat administration about 30 years ago at the dam. However, boating was temporarily suspended as a precautionary measure due to a boating accident that took place in a neighbouring state about 15 years ago. Tiruppur district was not formed at that time and Dhali town panchayat was under Coimbatore administration.”
The officer added, “In this situation, we are planning to resume boating in Tirumurthy dam in a couple of months. The boats will arrive from Kolkata in two weeks. For safety reasons, we have purchased only pedal boats for now. The funds approved by the district administration were used to purchase boats. More funds are needed to renovate the existing boat house building and other purposes. We are going to carry out these works by getting additional funds from the district administration.”
“This will attract tourists. The revenue after administrative expenses, will be shared 50% each between the tribal people and Dhali town panchayat. Tribal people will be given employment opportunities here,” the official further said.
T Aravindkumar, Tourism Officer of Tiruppur district, said, “We recently introduced boat rides at Andipalayam Lake in Tiruppur. That was our first boat ride project in the district and it has been received well by the public. We are currently providing appropriate guidance to local body administration regarding the implementation of boat rides. For this purpose, we have also inspected the existing boat house at Thirumurthy dam.”