Government will brand and promote tourism in Idukki

The work undertaken in connection with the Idukki package should be completed promptly, Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine has said. Addressing the review meeting for the Idukki package at the Idukki collectorate on Tuesday, Mr. Augustine said that the government will prepare a comprehensive tourism master plan to brand and promote tourism in the Idukki district. “Steps will be taken to arrange boating facilities for tourists in the Idukki dam reservoir,” said Mr. Augustine.

“In the face of delays in taking tenders for projects in Edamalakkudy, steps will be taken to intervene at the government level and obtain special permission to speed up the project completion,” said the Minister.

“Ten model anganwadis will be constructed in the plantation areas and backward areas of the district. Out of this, five anganwadis are in the Edamalakkudy grama panchayat. Mr. Augustine stated that special permission from the government is needed because the project’s completion would be delayed if the re-tendering process was required again.

The review meeting decided to fix solar fences in 15 places where the wildest animal attack hotspots are in the district. The re-tendering of seven delayed projects will be completed within two days. Work to install solar street lights in the most wild animal attack-prone areas in Devikulam in Idukki will begin this month itself.

In the Idukki package review meeting, officials reviewed the projects for 2022-23, 2022-24, and 2024-25. Udumbanchola MLA M.M. Mani, Devikulam MLA A. Raja, Idukki District Collector Dineshan Cheruvatt, Idukki Sub-Collector Anoop Garg, and District Planning Officer Deepa Chandran, among others, attended the meeting.

In February 2021. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced a special package that proposes to implement projects worth ₹12,000 crore in the district from 2021 to 2026. The package included various schemes, which assured sustainable development in the district. The project outlines a development strategy focused on six sectors in the district: enhancing productivity in agriculture and animal husbandry, promoting value-added processing industries, developing the tourism sector, improving physical and social infrastructure, eradicating poverty, and restoring ecological balance in the hilly district of Idukki.