By Sachin Mathews Mani
In a previous article we had mentioned the potential of Ottakathalamedu to become a popular tourist destination and the lack of infrastructure hindering the same.
We are therefore happy to inform that Ottakathalamedu has been included in the Destination Challenge Project (DCP) of the Kerala Tourism Department. The Honorable Minister of Tourism P. A. Muhammad Riyas has recently announced the same on his Facebook Page.
The Department of Tourism has launched the DCP to develop tourism infrastructure in the state with the collaboration of local bodies. The scheme aims to tap the importance of indigenous tourism and to link tourism activities in the state with various schemes of the local bodies to enable the overall development of Kerala.
The Minister has also mentioned that the Kumily Grama Panchayat and the Tourism Department will jointly spend around one and a half crore rupees to implement the development project. This initiative will help to attract more tourists to Ottakathalamedu which currently has no infrastructure and no proper approach roads.
Kumily has many such lesser known locales and picnic spots which could attract tourists but until now the main focus of tourist initiatives has been around Thekkady and the Periyar Tiger Reserve.
It is hoped that the DCP will enable more such unique but lesser known destinations in and around Kumily to become popular. This will also result in a more equitable distribution of economic growth by enabling a share of revenue from the tourism initiatives to percolate to the people of such localities.
