Kerala - Kochi   

Marine Drive in need of a facelift

KOCHI: Ill-maintained public spaces are Kochi’s bane. This forces people to throng the Marine Drive walkway – for a stroll or a boat ride through the backwaters. However, except for the Royal Musical Walkway, the conditions at Marine Drive are worsening by the day.

Three ill-lit entrances where construction material has been haphazardly dumped and pools of water have formed welcome the people.

Plastic and other waste is strewn all round. The rusted rods of the frames erected to house food kiosks are difficult to miss. The walkway and the benches provided on the side are in a sorry state. The walkway lacks proper lighting facilities.

Following a demand by the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA), planter boxes built a year ago by the Kerala Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organisation (KITCO) are being removed as they impede free movement of people. These portions will have to be tiled. Work is expected to be completed in a week.

KITCO sources said that with the GCDA unwilling to maintain the stretch, the Tourism Department had agreed to temporarily maintain the walkway.

District Collector A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish said the District Tourism Promotion Council, of which he is chairman, was willing to take over the stretch and maintain it. “There is increasing demand to extend the walkway towards the north and also up to Subhash Park. The revenue for maintaining the walkway can be raised by permitting firms to put up advertisements and from the kiosks that have been planned.” He said the possibility of roping in private tourist boat operators to pool in funds had to be studied.

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