To make fund mobilisation for the park easy, the party had formed a private company, Malabar Pleasures (India) Ltd. “Mobilisation of funds from the Gulf via a cooperative society was not easy,” sources said.

Opponents pointed out that the CPM, which led an agitation against Coca-Cola over “exploitation of water” in Palakkad district, could face the same charge over the park in Kannur. In fact, the park will have to definitely depend on water from the nearby Kambil river. But Parasinikkadavu being a party village, the CPM expects to get by without much protest.

Though the park has a rainwater harvesting system capable of storing 50 lakh litres, it may not suffice for operating 13 rides a day through the year. Asked about the daily requirement of water at the park, MTDCL Chairman Narayanan said he had not looked into that aspect.

The CPM’s choice of Kannur for the water park is also interesting. The region has been a hotbed of violence between the party and Sangh Parivar outfits, and unemployment is very high in this communist kingdom compared to other districts. The 300-odd jobs at the park have mostly gone to party workers, sources said, though the company had invited applications through newspapers.

Mixing business and politics

The water theme park is just the latest addition to the multi-crore business empire of the CPM in Kerala:

• CPM manages three satellite TV channels under Malayalam Communications Ltd. Liquor barons and Muslim League leaders associated with the UDF have also invested in the channel. A multi-storyed headquarters for the channel, Kairali Towers, is under construction in Thiruvananthapuram.

... contd.