Here's is some good news for beach bums. Now, if the Gujarat Maritime Board’s ambitious plans of developing four beaches in different parts of the state come true, you no longer need to travel far off for a leisurely holiday by the sea — you can enjoy it right in your own state and at stone’s throw distances. According to senior officials of the board, Rs200 crore will be spent on developing beaches at Serkeshwar near Pipavav, Shivrajpur near Okha, and Savli and Doomas beaches near Surat.
The process of developing tourist facilities such as water front development for tourists to take a walk, a multi-cuisine restaurant, beautification of areas in proximity of the beaches and construction of a connecting road are some of the activities under the plan.
The highlights of the project include, drive-in resorts and floating hotels around these beaches. What’s more if things go as planned, cruise liners would come calling quite frequently, said the GMB official.
The projects will be carried out based on public-private partnership model. In addition, the board has already started the process at various fronts, including seeking the environmental clearance, roping in consultants to prepare detailed plan and then inviting private sector companies to partner in the projects.
“Two MoUs were signed during the Vibrant Gujarat 2009 summit for Serkeshwar and Shivrajpur beaches. But we are most upbeat about Shivrajpur as it has clean blue water, as expected to one of the best beaches,” a senior official of GMB told DNA.
Surprisingly, the maritime board has been given job of developing these beaches and also making tourism hubs in Saurashtra region, despite the same being the mandate for Gujarat Tourism Corporation Ltd. According to senior official of state government, the chief minister was not happy with the pace and functioning of the tourism corporation, and had hence entrusted some part of the responsibility to the GMB.
The project is part of the bigger picture which includes developing a highway connecting towns Junagadh, Somnath, Porbander and Dwarka.
What’s more, the highway will pass through the Arabian Sea front, making it attractive for tourists to take longer tours in Gujarat’s coastal regions. Earlier, there were reports of the government investing as much as Rs600 crore this fiscal to develop ‘world-class tourism facilities’.
