MMRTC houseboat project to boost Kasaragod tourism

Thursday, May 9, 2019

The tourism potential of Kasaragod is poised to get a boost from the proposed ₹8-crore houseboat terminal project at Kottappuram in the Valiyaparamba backwaters under the Malabar-Malanad River Cruise Tourism Corporation (MMRTC) that oversees the rivers in Kannur and Kasaragod districts.

The backwaters, which got its name from Valiyaparamba, a long strip of land contiguous with Ezhimala in the south and Azhithala estuary where the Tejaswini river meets the sea a few kilometres downstream from Kottappuram near Neeleswaram, is luring tourists as it offers them a 30-km cruise in houseboats alongside the palm-fringed islands.

The houseboat cruise started in 2001 with just two boats of the Bekal Resorts Development Corporation. At present there are 23 houseboats and six shikhara-type boats operating cruise services in the backwaters.

“The houseboat terminal being developed at Kottappuram under the river cruise tourism project is envisaged as the houseboat hub of Malabar,” said T.V. Madhu Kumar, tourism empanelled architect who prepared the detailed project report. Tenders for the project have been floated and the work is expected to start next month, he said.

The terminals will have facilities to anchor 20 houseboats at a time. At present, the boarding points of cruise service are scattered in plots leased by boat owners in different locations on the banks of the Tejaswini river at Kottappuram.

The cruise not only offers views of the pristine beauty of the islands that dot the expansive backwaters but also vistas of village life on both sides of the waterway, he added.

“It is for the first time that the government initiated an infrastructure project aimed at promoting the backwaters tourism in this part of the region,” said K. Sivadas, president of the Kasaragod Houseboat Owners’ Association.

Water sports being the theme of the cruise envisaged on the Tejaswini river under the MMRCT project, the houseboat hub will give a fillip to the river/backwater-based tourism here, he said.

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