CHENNAI: After the formal announcement recently, the Tamil Nadu Tourism Department (TTDC) has floated a tender to purchase jet skis (water scooter) for making Madhavaram and Manali lakes as adventure tourism spots.

Earlier, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and TTDC had wanted to implement adventure tourism in both water bodies. Accordingly, the Manali lake (134 acres) was restored at a cost of about Rs 50 crore and Madhavaram lake (66 acres) at Rs 13 crore.

A senior official from TTDC said: “Both lakes were de-silted and cleaned by GCC, which paved the way to explore adventure tourism spots. Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru had checked the feasibility of introducing boat rides in Madhavaram lake last December.”

For the first phase, TTDC has floated a tender for procuring six jet skis since all the boats will be 2022-model that are made in Japan. “The maximum number of people on board will be three. Electric ignition boats will carry a 240 kg of load capacity. Adventure tourism will be further expanded after the response from the tourists,” explained the official.

Apart from jet skis, TTDC is also planning to buy rowing boats and pedal boats after getting feedback from tourists. “In the first phase, the jet skis will be operational in a few weeks after it was supplied by the licenced selected vendor. Gardens, modernised food courts, and tourist rest areas will also be opened near the banks of both lakes to attract more tourists, especially young travellers, who visit Chennai often,” he pointed out.