Karwar: Nine beaches in the state including five in Uttara Kannada will be developed under the ‘Swadesh Darshan’ scheme of the Union government. The state will get Rs 95.67 crore grant from the Centre to develop these beaches, spread in three coastal districts.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently launched the ‘Swadesh Darshan’ scheme, which aims at developing the existing tourist spots to attract more visitors. Under the scheme, many beaches and coastal cities are expected to be developed as tourism hubs, so that the local economy can improve. In Karnataka, the coastal districts - Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada have a number of natural beaches. But, they fail to attract more number of tourists as they don’t have necessary infrastructure.
To exploit their potential, the state has planned to develop nine such beaches under the Central scheme. Five beaches from Uttara Kannada and two each from Udupi and Dakshina Kannada have been selected under the scheme and adequate fund has been allocated for their makeover. Under the scheme, floating restaurants and jetties, seating benches, lifeguard watch towers, solid waste management unit, public convenience, CCTV cameras, shower blocks, beach cleaning equipment, sign boards, last mile connectivity, tourists’ facilitation centres and many more have been planned.
Based on the requirements, these new features will add to the selected beaches to ensure facilities to tourists. Sources in the district administration said the state government has forwarded a detailed project report (DRP) to the Union government, seeking Rs 99.64 crore and the latter has agreed to release Rs 95.67 crore. In the first phase, the state will get Rs 19.13 crore and it has decided to develop Malpe beach initially. Within a couple of months, funds will be released for all beaches and the work will start soon after that. A private agency has prepared an estimation and required facility report of all nine beaches.
A meeting was convened in Mangaluru recently, which was attended by the deputy commissioners of three coastal districts and officials of the Tourism Department, to discuss the matter. Some officials are said to have sought changes in DRP as per the requirement of the beaches, sources added.
Deputy Commissioner S S Nakul told reporters that five beaches of Uttara Kannada district have been selected under the scheme for overall development. Recently, a meeting was held in Mangaluru to discuss about the project. Work will start on these beaches once the fund is released, he added.