KOCHI: A vantage tourist spot -- the Mattancherry Park -- has been lying neglected for years due to conflict between the local administrative body and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI). The park is situated at an ideal location for tourists to have a view of the backwaters. However, they prefer to give it a miss due to its repulsive condition. The poor infrastructure and dirty surroundings cry for the administration’s attention. Stinking ponds, littered surroundings, unfit seats, absence of lamps -- all add up to mark the park as a blot on the tourism initiatives of the state. A senior member of the corporation administration agreed that the park indeed a tourists spot. On being asked why the corporation was not making any effort to spruce it up, he said it did make an attempt to renovate it and had purchased garden tiles and other articles years back. But now, most of the tiles and other articles were missing. He told Express that a unilateral decision of the local body to allocate a portion of the park to building shops had led to all these problems. The park used to be much bigger in size. The local body took the decision to build shops on a portion of the land of the park ignoring coastal zone regulations and ASI warnings. The ASI drew the attention of the District Collector into the issue. Following this, the Collector issued a stop order. When there was no impact to the move, the ASI moved the high court, which issued a stay on the local body from taking up any work in the park.
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