more-in To attract more sightseers to the district’s unexplored hill stations, the second phase of development work at the Nambikulam ecotourism centre in Koorachundu will begin next month with a State government aid of ?1.5 crore. Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran will launch the work on July 18. The hill station, located nearly 2,000 metres above the sea level, will have better amenities such as watch tower, cafeteria, rain shelters, landscaped surroundings, spacious parking area, and well-maintained roads on completion of work. Efforts are also on to encourage more residents in the area to come up with homestay facilities and counters for serving home-made food. Supporting the initiative, 17 residents have together spared the required extent of land for the project. Nearly four acres are in the possession of the Tourism Department. In the developed phase, there will be a spacious seminar hall for hosting events and ropeway facilities. The Tourism Department will seek the support of Koorachundu, Kottur, Kayanna and Panangad grama panchayats for the implementation of the project, which was approved by the State government in 2017. An Ernakulam-based multi-product engineering company will take up the project implementation, which is expected to be completed in two years. A tourism committee led by Purushan Kadalundi, MLA, is coordinating the project with the support of the four grama panchayats and the Tourism Department. Members of local bodies said they had already held discussions on the planned development work with the engineering company. They expressed hope that the work could be completed in time as the government had already sanctioned funds. The Nambikulam ecotourism centre, located nearly 40 km away from Kozhikode city, has been in a neglected state with poor road connectivity and lack of assistance from the government. The project got a fillip with the voluntary contribution of the required extent of land by a group of local farmers who were in search of a feasible alternative to surmount the crisis faced by them.

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