Planned development is needed for Munnar and a master plan will be prepared for that, Minister for Tourism and Public Works P.A. Mohamed Riyaz has said.
Inaugurating the Munnar Flower Show at the Government Botanical Garden in Munnar on Sunday, the Minister said Munnar would be developed into a main tourism hub and it would be done through the master plan. Tourism centres needed protection and development should not harm the environment. Many tourism centres faced several limitations and they needed to be addressed through planned development for attracting tourists.
The COVID-19 situation had badly affected the tourism sector and programmes like flower shows would help in attracting domestic tourists. The government had many proposals for rejuvenating the tourism sector, he said, adding that ‘Popular Tourism and Responsible Tourism’ was the motto.
Flyover
A flyover at Munnar would help in reducing traffic congestion during the peak season, he said. It would be considered seriously.
The Minister said that well-maintained quality roads were a prerequisite for development of tourism and farm sectors. Roads were being constructed with emphasis on quality. The quality maintenance period for each road would be known to the public and those constructing roads without quality would be answerable, he said.
The hill highway was a dream project of the government and its work was progressing, he said.
Till May 10
The Munnar Flower Show is organised by the District Tourism Promotion Council in association with the Kerala Tourism, district administration, merchants’ organisations and other agencies. The annual flower show is being organised after a gap of two years following the COVID -19 situation. It will continue till May 10.
The Minister also inaugurated the Kallar-Mankulam road constructed at a cost of ₹13 crore.
