The Tourism Department has revived an old plan to restore the Chinese nets of Fort Kochi viewing them as remnants of heritage and also to be in sync with the football fervour that’s going to grip the city with the advent of the Under-17 Football World Cup . Should it work this time around, 11 of the 12 Chinese nets along the Fort Kochi coastline will return to old glory, their crude and rickety iron bars replaced with timber poles, in a matter of about a month-and-a-half. We have initiated the process of identifying and procuring the wood required for this, says K.J. Maxi, MLA representing the region. It’s an old proposal for which the Tourism Department had then handed over some Rs. 75 lakh to Kitco, which was then identified as the agency for its execution. The whole project is worth Rs. 1.57 crore and the remaining sum is available with the department. We have kick-started it finally, he says. Derson Antony, coordinator of the Kochi Chinese Net Owners’ Association, told The Hindu that a team of officials, consultants and owners of Chinese nets had gone around timber depots to identify the wood. The only problem is that we need special government clearance for teak pieces with a length of about 9 metres, as the government only gives licence for pieces that are up to 6 metres long. With the football world cup getting under way, the world media will descend on Kochi and images and videos of the iconic Chinese nets so typical of the region are sure to be featured on media the world over. That’s why we want to give them a much-needed facelift, he says. Mr. Antony says while Kitco is the designated implementation agency, it will only provide logistics and other support, with the actual work of restoration carried out by skilled workers adept at setting up the cantilever implement on which the fishing net gets attached.