Rs. 6-cr. base camp for Sabarimala pilgrims

By Our Staff Reporter

PATHANAMTHITTA, DEC. 8. The Pathanamthitta municipality has prepared an exhaustive scheme to set up a full-fledged base camp - Caravan Park - for Sabarimala pilgrims at Thazhe Vettipram on the Pathanamthitta-Pampa Road in the town limits, 68 km from Pampa.

Talking to reporters here today, the municipal chairperson, Ms. Ajeeba M. Sahib, said the work on the first phase of the Rs. 6 crore Caravan Park project would begin in the next few months itself and that the Union Government had already sanctioned Rs. 108 lakhs for the proposed project under the Integrated Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns.

Ms. Ajeeba said the municipality has acquired five acres of land at Thazhe Vettipram and the earth-filling work has already been completed in three acres. The acquisition of another five acres of land from the adjoining areas of the proposed site would be completed in the coming months, she added.

The proposed caravan park will house a dormitory complex with a capacity to accommodate 500 persons and a modern restaurant, the chairperson said.

A four-star hotel, spacious vehicle parking lots, a tyre retreading centre, a garage, a fuel-filling station, a cloak room, a shopping complex, an open-air auditorium, STD/ISD and Internet parlours and an information and guidance centre are the other major attractions of the proposed caravan park, Ms. Ajeeba said.

She said the work on the first phase of the project that includes a five-storey dormitory complex, a three-storey cloak room complex, a fuel filling station, automobile work shop, comfort station, guest house, a small pond and the vehicle parking lots would begin in the next financial year itself.

According to Ms. Ajeeba, all the buildings have been designed with special care to get maximum natural light and ventilation. On completion, this will be a full-fledged base camp for the scores of Sabarimala pilgrims coming from distant places.

The petrol bunk and shopping complex can be used by the public during the off-season period from mid-January to mid-November. The garage and vehicle maintenance facilities can also function as part of the urban requirements during the off-season, says the chairperson.

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Section  : Southern States
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