In a new development, the Kerala government has teamed-up with various agencies to address mounting waste management concerns at Fort Kochi.
This place is an important tourist destination, and is struggling with littering issues as it threaten both its appeal and environment, as reported by The Times of India.
An official from the tourism departemnt said, “Fort Kochi lacks essential infrastructure such as toilets, benches, and street lighting. This project focuses on addressing these gaps.” As per the details, the govt has given administrative sanction of Rs 2.82 crore for the initiative.
In order to get additional funding, Kerala Tourism Infrastructure Ltd (KTIL) has proposed including Fort Kochi in the Swadeshi Darshan scheme under the Ministry of Tourism.
Fort Kochi attracts significant tourist footfall annually, particularly at its beaches. But its poor maintenance and crumbling infrastructure have made the tourist destination an ugly sight. Some previous improvement in the infrastructure were made, however, a lack of proper upkeep has left many facilities in shambles.
The state’s tourism department, in order to address this issue, has collaborated with Suchitwa Mission and Haritha Kerala Mission to make Fort Kochi cleaner and more appealing.
According to a Haritha Karma Sena official, as quoted by The Times of India, “We are addressing gaps in waste management by installing more bottle booths, conducting awareness campaigns about plastic waste, beautifying waste dumping spots, establishing a mini material collection facility (MCF), and placing information boards to discourage littering. The tourism department has also allocated 10 cents of land for constructing new toilets.”
The officials said that they cannot solve the issue of waste coming directly from the sea, however, they will focus on stopping shore waste from entering marine waters. As per the details, beautification efforts and additional waste management improvements will be implemented after gaining Kochi Corporation’s approval.
In another news, the city’s civic body is all set to include a list of 200 heritage structures on its website as part of the Geographic Information System (GIS)-based mapping of heritage structures/locales in Fort Kochi, as reported by The Hindu.
As per the information, the objective is to make ready the GIS database of the structures and locations along with their geo-tagged photos, videos, details of their historical significance, unique architectural styles, present condition, and coordinates.
