Faced with inordinate delay in commencing the construction of the Kochi Water Metro’s key terminal at Mattancherry and 14 other locations in the Greater Kochi area, office-bearers of the Mattancherry Water Metro Action Council met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum seeking speedy construction of the terminals.
Ferry commuters from Mattancherry had all along been resting hope on the Water Metro terminal, since ferries of the State Water Transport Department (SWTD) stopped calling at the adjacent SWTD terminal over five years ago, citing inadequate depth of the backwaters.
Enraged at the delay in SWTD ferries resuming services and the inordinate delay in re-tendering the contract to construct the Water Metro terminal, commuters and tourists who had to alight from ferries at Fort Kochi and then reach Mattancherry and traders had alleged that they were being given a step-motherly treatment by the State government and other agencies, despite water transport being the preferred mode of commute from the mainland. This was because ferries provided much faster and economical commute to the heritage tourism locale.
