Marine Drive, officially the APJ Abdul Kalam Marg, is a promenade in

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

, India. It is built facing the backwaters. Despite its name, no vehicles are allowed on the walkway. With several

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

s it is as an important centre of shopping activity in Kochi. The walkway starts from the

Kerala High Court The High Court of Kerala is the List of high courts in India, highest court in the Indian state of Kerala and the Union territory of Lakshadweep. It is located in Kochi. Drawing its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the Hig ...

junction and continues until the Rajendra Maidan. There are also several boat jetties along the walkway. The walkway has three bridges: the Rainbow bridge, the Chinese Fishing Net Bridge and the House Boat Bridge.

Name and history

Until the 1980s, the Shanmugham Road was the literal marine drive with the Kochi Lake and the adjoining

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

to its west. In the 1980s, GCDA started the Kochi Marine Drive project (following from the Bombay Marine Drive) and thus the whole of the present ''Marine Drive'' (part of the Kochi Lake, west of the Shanmugham Road to the present ''Marine Walkway'') was claimed from the ''Kochi Lake''. The then plan of GCDA was to eventually construct a road on the western border of this land, which would thus become a literal marine drive. But due to the enforcement of the Coastal Protection Laws in India in the 1990s, construction of a road became impossible. That's what led the GCDA toward settling down with a marine walkway instead of an actual marine 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 Rainbow Bridge. But the name ''Marine Drive'', since the initiation of the project in the 1980s, identifies the whole region (which was claimed from the lake), and not just the walkway.

Places lining Marine Drive

The Marine Drive stretches from the Jankar Jetty in the north to the Ernakulam Boat Jetty in the south. The adjoining areas are the Public Ground, Skyline apartments, Federal Bank Building, the GCDA Shopping Complex, the Kerala Trade Centre (under construction), Abad Bay Pride Mall, Pioneer Towers, Hotel Taj Gateway, Alliance Residency, DD Samudra Darshan apartment, and the India Priyadarshini Children's Park - in that order from North to South. These buildings and grounds are in between the marine drive walkway and the Shanmugham Road. The Public Ground at the Northern part of the Marine Drive is the preferred venue for major exhibitions, and more importantly political meetings that mark major landmarks in the Kerala political scene. It was here that the meeting to announce AK Antony's comeback to the Indian National Congress was held in 1982. The GCDA Shopping Complex is a major shopping arcade in Ernakulam city. The latest attraction is kulukki sarbath outlet, which makes local mocktails Important landmarks on Marine Drive are: * The Marine Walkway, stretching from Subash Chandra Bose Park in the south, to KSINC Boat Jetty in the north. * The Rainbow Bridge Marine Beauty 3 DSW

, over Market Canal near GCDA shopping complex (). * The House boat Bridge, part of the Marine Walkway near Goshree bridge end (). * The China Net Bridge, over Mullassery canal near Children's park, a part of the ''Marine Walkway'' (). * GCDA Shopping Complex, along Marine Drive (). * The Asoka-Tharangini Apartments
Marina One
Luxury Apartments * Tat
Tritvam
Apartments Marine Drive Kochi Night View DSW

Marine Drive Scheme Phase 2

Marine Drive Scheme Phase 2 is an extension of the Phase 1 proposed in the land to be reclaimed of about 400 hect. extending from GIDA land to Varappuzha, as a part of Vision-2030.Vision-2030 to reshape Kochi into a global Kochi
Times of India, 15 May 2012

Gallery

image:Eve Beauty Marine DSW.jpg, A view from Marine Drive at night image:Kettuvallam Bridge DSW.jpg, Kettuvallam Bridge near Goshree bridge image:Marine Drive Walkway DSW.jpg, Marine Walkway at night image:Blue Marine Drive.JPG, Beauty of Marine Drive at Evening image:Marine Drive Kochi.jpg, The Chinese Fishing net bridge over Mullassery canal at the Marine Drive walkway image:Musical-walkway.jpg, The view from the southern end of the Musical Walkway adjoining the Fishing net Bridge. image:Rainbow Bridge DSW.jpg, Rainbow Bridge over Market Canal near GCDA shopping complex. image:Marine Drive Chinese Net DSW.jpg, Chinese Net View from Marine Drive image:Kochi_India.jpg, A wide view of the buildings lining the Marine Drive image:BW Marine DSW.jpg, An artistic view from Kochi Marine Drive image:Marine Drive View.JPG, A Holiday Marine Drive View image:Prestige Apartments Marine Drive View DSW.jpg, Prestige Apartments at Marine Drive Kochi image:Sunset from Marine Drive.jpg, Sunset view from Marine Drive image:View From A Hotel On Marine Drive Kochi.jpg, View from a hotel on Marine Drive, Kochi image:Marine Drive Kochi Night View DSW.jpg, Night view of Marine Drive, Kochi

References

External links