Until the 1980s, what we know today as the Marine Drive was known as Shanmugham Road, which also included the Kochi Lake and the Arabian Sea. In the 1980s, a project was started by GCDA named as the Kochi Marine Drive Project and thus work was initiated on the same. However, due to the enforcement of the Coastal Protection Laws in India in the 1990s, construction of a road along the drive became impossible. As a result of the same, a walkway was constructed in its place. However, the name Marine Drive stuck. Today, this destination has become a must do for all people who visit the city, and can be easily deemed as the state's commercial capital as well.