Munnar bets on pet tourism
The next time you visit Munnar, there will be something more to enjoy besides the mountain air, the Nilgiri tahrs, the rollicking hills and the tea estates.
By Joe A Scaria, TNN |
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The next time you visit Munnar, there will be something more to enjoy besides the mountain air, the Nilgiri tahrs, the rollicking hills and the tea estates.
The Kerala Livestock Development Board (KLDB) has chalked out plans for a pet tourism centre in Munnar, which will replicate a typical rural Indian setting, complete with cattle, poultry and pets.
“It is going to be a model livestock village set on a 10-acres campus, just outside our existing cattle farm in Munnar, where we will have different breeds of cattle, birds, poultry, a variety of pet animals and an aquarium.
We hope to lure tourists by creating a typical village ambience, complete with thatched huts for accommodation,” KLDB MD Ani S Das told ET.
The project has an initial outlay of Rs 2.74 crore, with funding from Nabard and the state government. KLDB will take the assistance of other Kerala public sector undertakings in the tourism sector, and has no plans for joint ventures with the private sector, Mr Das said.
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KLDB claims to have Asia’s one and only hazard and critical central point (HACCP)-certified cattle semen bank at its Munnar farm, which is a high-level bio-security area with no admission for visitors. Mr Das said the tourism venture would help curious visitors get a feel of cattle and pet management at close quarters, even as it promotes tourism in the region and adds to KLDB’s bottom line.
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