KOCHI: As part of the proposal to renovate the dilapidated single-storeyed building at Parvana Junction in Mattanchery, the Kochi Corporation authorities have begun to demolish the building. “The proposal mooted in the Kochi Corporation budget aims at redesigning the building, thus tap the tourism potential of Mattanchery and Fort Kochi,” said KJ Sohan, chairman, Town Planning Committee, Kochi Corporation.“This is the only option. The building was once a landmark of Mattanchery. It could well turn out to be a hot spot for tourism if rightly utilised,” he said and added that the Corporation will come up with the redesign plan within two months. According to sources, the structure was built as a rest house for tourists in the 1960’s by the-then Mattanchery Municipality. But, it failed to serve the purpose as tourism prospects were not high then. When the Municipality became a Corporation, it began to rent out the building.The Corporation had leased out the building to Vector Control Research Centre (VCRC), an institute under the Indian Council of Medical Research, to study the mosquito menace in Kochi.“The VCRC used it as its head office and lab for almost seven years. After that when the Mattanchery police station was under renovation, the building functioned as a station for about 10 years. Later, the authorities began renting out the structure to private parties. In course of time, when the building could no longer lure lucrative prospects, it faded to oblivion,” sources said.This dilapidated structure built in a colonial style was in an abandoned state for the past five years and eventually turned out a safe-haven for anti-social elements.
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