4/5 jose m. 3 years ago on Google
Marine
drive
is
a
picturesque
promenade
in
the
city
of
Kochi,
Kerala,
India.
Marine
drive
is
also
an
economically
thriving
part
of
the
city
of
Kochi.
With
several
shopping
malls,
it
is
an
important
centre
of
shopping
activity
in
the
city
of
Kochi.
The
view
of
setting
and
rising
sun
over
the
sea
mouth
and
the
gentle
breeze
from
the
Vembanad
Lake
made
marine
drive
an
important
tourist
destination
in
Kochi.It
stretches
a
1.75
kms
and
starts
from
the
High
court
junction
and
extends
to
the
Rajendra
Maidan.
There
are
several
boat
jetties
along
its
stretch
and
the
walkway
has
three
contemporary
constructed
bridges,The
rainbow
bridge,
The
Chinese
fishing
net
bridge,
and
the
Houseboat
bridge.
Ironic
to
its
name
,
no
vehicles
are
allowed
in
the
walkway.ย ย In
the
1980โs.
,GCDA(Greater
Cochin
Development
Authority)
started
the
Kochi
marine
drive
project
following
the
Mumbai
marine
drive
and
thus
the
whole
of
the
present
marine
drive
,
part
of
the
Kochi
lake,
west
ย of
the
Shanmugham
road
to
the
present
marine
walkway
was
claimed
from
the
Kochi
plan.Then
plan
of
GCDA
was
to
eventually
construct
a
road
on
the
western
border
of
this
island
which
would
thus
become
a
literal
marine
drive,
but
due
to
the
enforcement
of
the
coastal
protection
laws
in
India
in
the
1990โs
,
construction
of
road
became
impossible
and
that
led
the
GCDA
towards
settling
down
with
a
marine
walkway
instead
of
an
actual
Marine
ย drive.In
1992,under
the
leadership
of
the
GCDA
chairman
V
Joseph
Thomas
,
IPS,
a
beautification
project
of
the
walkway
was
established
leading
to
the
construction
of
the
iconic
bridges.ย There
are
lot
of
places
lining
the
marine
drive
.The
marine
drive
stretches
from
the
Jankar
jetty
ย the
north
to
the
Ernakulam
boat
jetty
in
the
south
.
The
adjoining
areas
are
the
public
ground
,
skyline
apartment,
federal
bank
buildings,the
GCDA
shopping
complex
,
The
Kerala
trade
centre
,
Abad
Bay
pride
mall,
Pioneer
towers,
Hotel
Taj
gateway,
Alliance
residency,
DD
Samudra
apartments
and
the
Indira
Priyadarshini
childrenโs
park.ย ย The
public
ground
at
the
northern
part
of
the
marine
drive
is
the
preferred
venue
for
major
exhibitions
and
most
important
political
meetings
that
mark
major
landmarks
in
Keralaโs
political
scene.