Newly announced street food hub may turn Munnar into a major food destination

Munnar: The authorities have recently shown the green flag for building a street food hub in Munnar to improve the tourism scope of the hill station. The construction of the street food hub at the bus stand in Moolakkada in Old Munnar, on the side of the Kochi – Dhanushkodi national highway would begin soon. The estimated budget of the project is a whopping Rs 5.15 crore. The piling works would start as soon as completing the tender procedures followed by acquiring the required technical approvals from the government. The street food hub is established by the Munnar Panchayat and the project is overseen by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India.

The project envisions to serve both international and local cuisines to the tourists who visit Munnar. The ground floor of the food hub in the bus stand would be turned into a parking lot for the customers who visit the hub. Meanwhile, up to twenty food kiosks or stalls would be constructed on the first floor. The National Health Mission (NHM) has donated Rs 1 crore while the Munnar Panchayat has allotted Rs 1.15 crore for the food hub. Besides, a loan of Rs 3 crore has been availed to complete the project. Tourists including foreigners would be able to try various global cuisines at these food stalls that would function as per international food safety guidelines. Recently Minister Veena George announced that the state has received the approval for spending a fund of Rs 4 crore allotted by NHM for building four street food hubs in the state.