CHENNAI: It’s not all bad news though for Pulicat, Chennai’s closest middle-class getaway. If all goes well, the State government will be implementing a slew of measures to make Pulicat a holiday destination to reckon with. Though it will be quite a task, given the decades of neglect, there are indications that the plan will bear fruit soon.“The AARDE (Art and Architecture Research, Development Education) Foundation has been asked to submit a proposal to the State Tourism Department after which they will implement the measures one by one,” says Xavier Benedict, the force behind this not-for-profit group that was founded to safeguard Pulicat’s heritage and future.Working in the hamlet since 2006, the small group has given the world a window into Pulicat through their heritage walks, coastal clean-up drives, exhibitions at DakshinaChitra and various other initiatives.Not only have more people, especially Dutch tourists (given Pulicat’s long Dutch history) been coming to visit the place, corporates and students have been coming in hordes.“I think I ought to start charging admission to take people around these days,” jokes Xavier, who also runs an engineering firm in Chennai.Ambassador of The Netherlands to India, Bob Hiensch, visited Pulicat last month and was all praise for the way the foundation had managed to research and preserve a piece of this unique heritage, even after four centuries (the Dutch arrived in Pulicat in 1609).
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