THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
After the long wait of six months, the boating services in Veli lake in Veli Tourist Village has resumed.
The services, which used to attract a large numbers of tourists, were interrupted for the past six months due to the lake being clogged with water hyacinths.
The lake was cleared of water hyacinths by breaking down the sand bank separating the lake from the sea and allowing the weed to float to the sea. ‘’We usually break the sand bank when the water level cross 120 centimetres. However, this was not possible earlier during summer because of insufficient summer rain. After the heavy monsoon rains recently, we broke the sand bank and the weeds were washed away, ‘’ said Veli Tourist Village deputy director Vijayakumaran.
‘’Boating was almost impossible in the earlier months due to the lake being clogged by water hyacinths. We faced a drop in revenue of more than Rs 10 lakh during the last six months. The revenue from boating in the vacation months also dropped compared to the previous years,’’ he added.
Full report here New Indian Express
