Kottayam: The Kerala tourism department is planning to introduce more attractive packages to attract tourists to the sinking Munrothuruthu or Munroe Island near the country’s cashew capital city of Kollam.

The department proposes to dig a parallel canal when the existing one is used for operating country boats.
The additional canal will help to cater to more tourists coming to the island, District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) Secretary Santosh Kumar told The Covai Post. It will set up a facility for house boats to have a jetty in the island.

The DTPC aims to have new bridges for the outdated ones linking different parts of the island
The Munrothuruthu panchayat to is to be part of the project, he said.

The island was developed by British official Lt Col John Munro who was the Diwan of Travancore at the end of the 18th century. The island takes his name.

Tucked in between Ashtamudi lake and the Kallada river, the island got popular after Munro allowed a Christian priest to set up a seminary there and resettle converted Christians. Since it was an island, escaping to the mainland for these converts was not easy. The island was renamed after his return to Scotland.

The beauty of the island even fascinated Munro who used to visit the place whenever he was under stress.

The 13.4sq km island with a population of about 10,000, throws up immense scope to attract tourists. It offers to the tourist coir retting process, coir weaving, fishing, prawns feeding, migratory bird watch, narrow canals and waterways, coconut farms, lagoons, mangrove plants and beautiful tiny islands.

The Kallada boat race is one of the famous races in Kerala.