Garbage heaps on Willingdon Island, Edappally-Aroor NH 66 Bypass, and NH 544 have become an eyesore. This has left tourism stakeholders fuming.
“With the tourist season kicking in, cruise liners have begun calling at the Samudrika terminal. The high-end tourists who arrive in these ships are often put off by the sight of garbage dumped on Willingdon Island and on roads that lead to Fort Kochi, Mattancherry, and other popular tourist locales,” said C. Satish, president, All Kerala Tour Guides’ Association.
Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) Society president Jose Pradeep recalled how 400 truckloads of garbage was removed from Willingdon Island in 2022 when the Kerala Travel Mart was hosted there to avoid foreign and domestic travellers leaving with a bad image of the State. “Going by the current trends, much more will have to be removed from the island now. Worse is the plight of the Fort Kochi beach and its once popular beachfront, which is slowly dying due to sea erosion and the haphazard manner in which people dump garbage in public spaces.”
