Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the first phase works of the elephant rehabilitation centre at Kottur in Agasthyavanam Biologic-al Park range on Sunday.
Kerala Infrastructure InvestmentFund Board (KIIFB) has allocated Rs 108 crore for the project, coming up on 176 hectares of forest land, out of which Rs 71.9 crore would be spent on phase I. The centre, to be completed in two phases by the end of 2021, will have facilities to treat 50 elephants, wild or captive.
The facilities include enclosure for elephants, super specialty veterinary clinic, elephant dung recycling and zero waste unit, facilities for training mahouts, elephant bathing area, elephant natural history museum, research, training and skill development centre, developing regular natural and artificial fodder availability area, convention centre, amphitheatre, super-specialty veterinary hospital, tourists’ zones, gardens, cafeteria, cottages, toilet blocks and parks.
The centre is expected to help further development of tourism projects in the Neyyar dam. The expectation was that the centre would attract more than 3.5 lakh visitors per year, including 50,000 foreigners.
Forest minister K. Raju will preside over the in-augural ceremony atten-ded by ministers T. M. Thomas Isaac, Kadakam-pally Surendran and K. Krishnankutty at 4 p.m.
