DINDIGUL: WHAT does beauty
want? To be seen, appreciated and admired. Well, when it comes to the
‘Princess of Hill Stations’, aka Kodaikanal, that ‘want’ part is nicely
taken care of by the tourists. But what does beauty need to stay
beautiful? To be maintained, period. Good news! the ‘need’ part is going
to be taken care of, courtesy the Kodaikanal Municipality’s 106-crore
proposal to facelift Kodaikanal.

The municipality has recently sent a proposal to the State government in
this regard and the suggestions contain a bunch of measures the
Princess Hill deserves. Going by what the Municipality officials told
TNIE, the proposal aims to revamp Kodaikanal Lake, Boat House, a 4.5-km
road that runs around the lake, 14 culverts that dot the town, Children
Park, the walkway garden that circumnavigates the lake and the fountain
in municipality office complex. Wait, there’s more. The officials also
envisage to built two watch towers near the lake for the tourists to get
a panoramic view of the evergreen town. To keep the lake clean, the
municipality wants to procure a dredging machine so that Palani, a town
that relies on Kodaikanal Lake, would get potable water.  

The proposal also pitches for the procurement of 15 boats, including
pedalling and rowing ones. It may be noted that the Boat House has 36
boats now. Sources from the municipality told TNIE that renovation of
the road around Kodaikanal Lake would put an end to rainwater stagnation
in the area. They said the walkway garden would get different varieties
of flowering plants. They vowed to carry out the renovation works on
war-footing once the government shows green signal to the proposal.

The Plan:

* A dredger will be procured to keep the Kodaikanal Lake clean

* Boat House and Children Park to get a fresh lick of paint

* The 4.5-km road runs around the lake will be relaid

* 14 culverts that dot the town to be renovated

* Fountain in the municipality complex to be revamped

* Walkway garden around Kodaikanal Lake to get a range of flowering plants

* 15 boats to be procured.