Public participation needed to protect Kozhikode’s Beach Bliss park, says former MLA

Tourism Minister reopens park with new facilities

“When children at our home destroy their toys, do we stop buying them toys? No, but we try to make them assume ownership and protect the toys.” That was the theory A. Pradeepkumar, the former MLA of Kozhikode North, applied to ensure the protection of all his pet projects in the constituency. Now when Butt Road Beach Bliss, the latest project he envisaged, has become a reality after he stepped down from the post, Mr. Pradeepkumar desperately hopes that people in the neighbourhood assume a sense of responsibility and protect the park from the destruction similar to what it endured a few years ago at the hands of vandals. The Butt Road Beach Bliss park was reopened by Minister for Tourism and Public Works P.A. Mohamed Riyas on Monday. It was first opened 10 years ago as an experiment at a cost of ₹2 crore, encompassing tiled pathways, a lagoon in the centre, and some minor landscaping, and since then has been a popular hub of morning walkers. It became a relaxation spot for families in the city unlike the much popular beach near the Corporation Office, which was visited by tourists too. But, maintenance fell short and it soon fell into the hands of miscreants. That even the wiring of lights in the park was stolen vouches for the extent of destruction that occurred.