Water sports at Mudaliarkuppam and Madhavaram, a hit among adventure lovers

“Six coracles have been brought from Hogenekkal and all of them are being used, especially on weekends,” horticulture officer Avinash Gupta told DT Next. The park in Madhavaram has twelve trained staff to ride the coracles. The ride will be for 15 minutes at Rs 20 for children and Rs 40 for adults. No one will be allowed to board the coracle without life jackets. Gupta said that only 6 foot of water is required for coracle rides and the borewells inside the park can provide that much water even during summer.

To spice up the holiday spots along East Coast Road, the State Tourism Department has also begun the papers work to acquire new boats and water scooters for its boathouses at Muttukaadu and Mudaliarkuppam.

“To engage tourists during Pongal holidays, the government staff at boathouses have already submitted fresh proposals under which speed boats, water scooters and pedal boats are to be introduced in the backwaters of Chennai,” admitted Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation sources. Muttukadu and Mudaliarkuppam will get close to 15 boats and there is a proposal for new boats to other tourist spots like Kodaikanal, Ooty boathouse and Pykara, sources said.

“Mudaliarkuppam with 15 foot of backwaters is an ideal place for water and adventure sports. There are 8 single-seater kayaks and four two-seaters. The banana boat is also a hit among IT crowd,” said a TTDC official. More than 5,000 people visit Muttukaadu and Mudaliarkuppam during weekends and the new boats will add to the revenue generation of TTDC, sources said. Two high-speed jet skies are to be added to the existing fleet in Mudaliarkuppam.