The 133-foot-tall Thiruvalluvar statue standing on a rock in the sea in Kanniyakumari will be given a chemical coating soon as it is essential to protect it from corrosion, Minister for Tourism M. Mathiventhan has said.
Speaking to reporters here on Friday, Mr. Mathiventhan said the previous AIADMK regime did not bother about protecting the statue from the salty sea breeze and seawater by giving a chemical coating over the past four years. Hence, the work would be started very soon besides installing high-power lights so that tourists could see the statue in floodlights.
The proposal to create cable car facility to attract tourists at ‘Triveni point’ in Kanniyakumari, which was also put in cold storage, would be revived.
He also said that traders in tourist destinations, who had been hit hard due to the lockdown, would be given assistance and loan after getting the approval from Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.
The Minister said special tourist buses would be operated to connect all tourist destinations in Kanniyakumari district and asked the District Tourism Officer to prepare a project report for operating boat ride between Kanniyakumari and Manakkudi, a nearby coastal hamlet.
Information and Technology Minister T. Mano Thangaraj and Collector M. Aravind accompanied Mr. Mathiventhan.
