Big plans to develop Thannirchal tourism

THRIPUNITHURA: ‘Thannirchal Tourism Project’, which aims to bring out tourism possibilities in and around Irumbhanam, will be completed within a year, according to Municipal Chairman  R Venugopal. As part of the project, a commercial building called Town Square will be constructed and a children’s park will be developed adjacent to it. Jointly called ‘Thannirchal Town Square’ project will be set on the bank of Thannirchal  pond  in Irumbhanam, he said. An area of 1.65 acres has been allotted for the proposed project and it will be implemented in two phases, he added.Along with the park development, the Thannirchal Pond will be renovated to facilitate boating. This project falls under the management of Thripunithura Municipality and inaugurated by the Excise Minister K Babu in January.Venugopal said that the first phase of works would be completed in this fiscal itself. As part of the first phase, land filling work has been completed. The construction works for the parking area and compound walls are under process. The construction of the play area in the park and renovation of the Thannirchal pond is also progressing, he said. The work for installing a lighting system in the area will commence at the earliest, Venugopal said. The project is being financed by Bharat Petroleum and the State tourism department. “We are expecting to complete the project within an estimated cost of `7 crore. Bharat Petroleum has already given `1 crore and we are expecting more financial help from them. The State tourism department will give us with `1 crore and other funds will be provided by the municipality,” he added.The authorities feel that once the project is implemented, it would only add to the tourism potential in the district. “The project is concentrating on the development of tourism. At the same time, the Town Square project will be used for the commercial purposes. Moreover,  the proposed project area is only half a kilometre from the Thripunithura Hill Palace. The new project is mainly aiming at attracting the tourists visiting the palace while touring  Ernakulam city. Later, the Thannirchal Tourism Project will be developed as the major tourism hub of the district,” he added.