Boat Jetty area on wings of development hopes

KOCHI: More than five years after the  reclamation of the land along the Ernakulam Tourist Boat Jetty, it will now be handed over to the Tourism Department. The move is expected to give the much-needed impetus to the investments in the potential tourist spot in the city. The 2.7 acres of land was reclaimed with the funds of the Tourism department. But further development of the area has been delayed owing to the uncertainty over the ownership of the land.  The State government has now ordered the transfer of land to the Tourism Department. The current decision is expected to boost the long pending infrastructure development including power supply in the area, development of the walkway from Subash Park to Rajendra Maidan, leasing out the government buildings around jetty, electrification of the lamp posts, development of the KSRTC bus station and so on.Though the Tourism Department had funded the construction of the Tourist Boat Jetty and the land reclamation work the title deed was not transferred to the department. “Since the land was not devolved to the Tourism Department, it had been reluctant to invest in the area. There was uncertainty that after the investment the land might go into the hands of the GCDA or the Corporation. But more importantly, since the title deed was not given, the buildings were not allotted numbers and the power supply was denied. At the time of the inauguration, the main boat jetty building alone got power supply due to the intervention of the then Mayor,”  said a senior official with the Tourism Directorate in Kochi.Due to the absence of power supply the seven other buildings built in the area could not be leased out. Even the walkways on the second floor of the boat jetty building could not be opened to the public. “The delay in the transfer of the document was mainly because it was reclaimed land. There are several procedures when it comes to the transfer of reclaimed land. But since the government order is given, we will be sending a proposal at the earliest. The transfer is expected to happen within a month,” District Collector P I Sheikh Pareeth said.