The Public Works department (PWD) that provides accommodation for over two lakh guests a year is all set to set up its first women-only rest house in Kerala.
The State has sanctioned ₹2.25 crore for setting up the exclusive facility for women on the premises of the Government Rest House, Thycaud, in Thiruvananthapuram. The construction of the two-storey building is expected to be completed in 2025.
According to the office of Public Works Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas, the State government has earlier announced that women’s rest houses will be constructed as part of making rest houses in the State people’s rest houses. The facility to come up in the capital would be beneficial for women visiting the capital for various purposes, said the Minister in a statement here on Tuesday.
The Minister said the facility would be a gift to Navakerala from the Public Works department. The State also had plans to construct such facilities in other districts in a phased manner based on the response to this new initiative, the Minister said.
Renovation continues
He said the work on renovating the rest houses would continue. There are 156 rest houses across the State.
The department has made an annual revenue of ₹7 crore as rent for rooms between November 2022 and November 2023, after the rest houses were brought under the online booking platform in 2021.
The women’s rest house will have both AC and non-AC rooms.
Three bridges
Along with this work, the department has sanctioned funds for three bridges in the State. Administrative sanction has been issued to the Parakkadav bridge in the Perambra Assembly constituency, the Akamala bridge in the Chelakkara and Wadakkanchery constituencies, and the Thaikarachira twin bridge in the Perumbavoor constituency. An amount of ₹3.59 crore has been sanctioned for the Parakkadav Bridge, ₹2.80 crore for the Akamala bridge and ₹2 crore for the Thaikarachira bridge.
