Cauvery interpretation centre turns popular

Hundreds of young and old people are appreciating the Cauvery River Interpretation Centre, established at the Grand Anicut near here. The centre houses a massive depiction of the course of the Cauvery from its origin in the Tala Cauvery to its draining into the Bay of Bengal at Poompuhar.

The highlight of the display is word pictures and miniature displays of the numerous reservoirs, barrages and dams replete with their distance from the source. Important cities and towns in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu along the course of the river are highlighted in the display.

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa declared open the facility along with a children’s theme park, installation of adventure sports utilities, a sprawling garden and other public amenities that have all added glory to the Grand Anicut as a tourist destination. The new facilities that add pep to the tourist spot, catering to Thanjavur and Tiruchi residents, have come up at a cost of Rs. 2.79 crore.

In the complex that features the Centre, a new concept that would help public in general and school students in particular understand the course of the Cauvery, a fresh water aquarium, a telescope and display of important historical events have been provided - all at a cost of Rs. 1.10 crore.

At the Children’s theme park which is lush green all round with neatly delineated walks amid the meadow, a lazy pool and water slide for children to frolic is the cynosure of all eyes and they have been readied at an expenditure of Rs. 19.50 lakh. The park has an adventure sports unit in Free Fall, put up at a cost of Rs. 20 lakh.

While landscaping the entire complex has been done at Rs. 30 lakh, other improvements to the surroundings to match the magnificence of the park complex including construction of foot path to approach all the tourist attractions in the destination has been carried out at a cost of Rs. 48.33 lakh.

To increase and ensure security, a compound wall around the park area has been constructed at a cost of Rs. 29 lakh.

Besides, construction of wayside amenities including toilets for ladies, gents and differently abled persons, cloak room and dressing rooms have been constructed at a further expenditure of Rs. 22 lakh.

The endeavour is a definite allurement to picnickers. “We are surprised to see the Centre. The Cauvery which we see everyday has so many important locations on its course. We saw dams and channels. Very informative,” notes a ninth standard student S. Supraja of Tiruchi, who visited the facility with her parents.

The Centre has funded the project through the Ministry of Tourism under the Destination Development Scheme while the Public Works Department and the Tourism Department have pitched in with their efforts to embellish the project.