Thiruvananthapuram to have its night life zone soon at Veli beach

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The days when the entire city downed its shutters by 8pm will be a thing of the past soon. An exciting ‘night life’ with an eclectic mix of the tame, chic and racy, to rev up the city will soon be rolled out if a project in the pipeline moves as planned by the government. The ‘night life zone’ will be part of the proposed world class urban entertainment centre (UEC) to be set up adjacent to the Boat Club on the Veli beach.
A project mooted by Infrastructure Kerala Limited (Inkel) as a joint venture with Tourist Resorts Kerala Ltd (TRKL) with 74:26 equity participation, the UEC has been designed as an integrated tourist destination with a one-stop family entertainment centre, a night life zone and a retail zone with a mix of entertainment, commercial components and accommodation facilities under one roof. It is being planned in a public-private participation (PPP) mode with the support of private investors, financial institutions and banks.
“The project has received an in-principle approval from the state government. Further measures on dovetailing the project implementation by inviting bidders will be decided by the government and the tourism department,” Inkel’s executive director N Sasidharan Nair told TOI on Monday.
Tourism secretary Suman Billa said an entertainment zone with a night life zone, retail zone with multiplex, amphitheatre and amusement area with a marine aquarium and thematic restaurants are all planned as part of the UEC project. “We have obtained about 20 acres for the project and the cost is now estimated at Rs 300 crore. It would be an interesting project with a family-oriented entertainment zone with a dynamic mix of arts, leisure, learning, entertainment, amusement and retail. The zone will also include food courts and restaurants serving the best cuisine,” he said.
“But the project design needs to be tweaked, for part of the land falls under the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) rules and without violating the norms, landscaping and gardening with cascading terraces of vegetation has to be set in that area. Only then the project can proceed and attract investors,” Suman Billa said.