En Uru, the first tribal heritage village in the State set up on 25 acres on the slope of a hillock at Pookode, will be opened to the public on Saturday.
Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes K. Radhakrishnan will open the project at 11.30 a.m. on Saturday. Minister for Tourism P.A. Mohamed Riyas will inaugurate the second phase of the project. Rahul Gandhi, MP, will deliver the keynote address.
The comprehensive tribal development project was aimed at setting up a permanent platform to showcase the diverse tribal traditional knowledge and heritage as well as to enhance the livelihood options of tribal communities, Wayanad Subcollector R. Sreelakshmi, who is also the president of the En Uru Charitable Trust, said.
The ₹10-crore project is jointly implemented by the Tourism and the Scheduled Tribe Development departments. It was initiated by the then Wayanad Subcollector N. Prashant in 2012 at an initial cost of ₹3 crore. However, construction started only in 2016 owing to technical issues. The work was handed over to the District Nirmithi Kendra in 2016 and the first phase was completed in 2018.
Facilities such as a tribal market, tribal food outlets, facilitation centre and a warehouse were readied under the first phase of the project in 2020. A centre with 10 prototype tribal huts, rain shelter, toilet block, landscape works, art and crafts workshop, shop to introduce tribal medicines to tourists, cafeteria, amphitheatre to showcase tribal art forms, heritage pathway, and children’s park have been completed. “We expect that the project can provide direct employment to 50 persons and indirect job opportunities to nearly 1,000. We are also planning to set up a laser show,” Ms. Sreelakshmi said.
The construction of a 1-km concrete road to the site and pavement with laterite has been completed at a cost of ₹2.5 crore.
‘Mazha Kazhcha’, a two-day exhibition, will be held on Saturday and Sunday in connection with the launch of the project.
