Cuttack: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday inaugurated the Silver City Boat Club at Cuttack through Video Conferencing.
This revamped boat club is created by Odisha Tourism through OTDC with an investment of approximately 2 Crore rupees with a view to promote water-based recreation in river Mahanadi.
The activities that will be operational in the Boat Club include Jet Skis, Speed Boats, Day Cruise, Banana Boat, Inflatable Boat, Water Scooters, Floating café, Kayaking, Canoeing, Pedal Boats, Scuba Diving etc.
The Chief Minister in his virtual address said, “To tap the State’s tourism potential incorporating water bodies, we are rapidly developing tourism and hospitality infrastructure in identified areas. This recreational offering in the mighty Mahanadi River will help in establishing Odisha as a sought-after tourism hub.”
Tourism Minister Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi,Lok Sabha MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, Rajya Sabha MP Subas Singh, MLA Souvik Biswal, Ex MLA Debasis Samantaray, Vishal Kumar Dev, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Shreemayee Mishra, Chairperson OTDC, Sachin Ramachandra Jadhav, Director, Tourism and Bhabani Shankar Chayani Collector, Cuttack were present during the inaugural ceremony.
The infrastructure at this Boat Club, adversely impacted by Cyclone Fani, has been upgraded to include a floating jetty, booking counter and complex for lifeguards, toilet complex, a restaurant, adequate parking space and a park with children’s play area. The infrastructure will be further augmented in phases.
OTDC will operate and manage the boat club, where operators will be allowed to use the common infrastructure and facilities on a user fee model.
In his speech MP Subas Singh emphasized on creation of additional cottages for night stay in the Silver City Club which will attract tourists from different corner. He also requested to extend the Cuttack city in the Golden Triangle of the State which will enhance the tourist footfall.
In his speech Bhartruhari Mahtab requested the Department of Tourism to include the Maritime Museum in the Tourism Map of Odisha and to explore the potential of other nearby tourist locations.
In his addressed Principal Secretary, Tourism Vishal Kumar Dev mentioned about the strategy of development of specific tourist destinations in the entire State.
Addressing the gathering Tourism Minister said, “This project comes with basic infrastructure to support multiple Water Sports operators and promote water-based tourism offerings in Cuttack and nearby districts.”
As per reports, as of now two operators will start operations at the Boat Club and steps are being taken for engagement of additional operators for operations over the next month.
Ms Kalinga