Modern electric hybrid air-conditioned ferries that are similar to Water Metro ferries operated by Kochi Water Metro Limited (KWML) in the Greater Kochi area will begin operating a few years down the lane in Kollam and other districts in the State that abut the shoddily underutilised 610-km Kovalam-Bekal west coast canal, if everything works as planned.
The agency has already done a preliminary assessment of the potential to operate such ferries in the sprawling backwaters of Kollam and held discussions with the town’s Mayor and other municipal authorities. The key advantages of Kollam is that operational expenses of the ferries there will be much lower than in Kochi, thanks to cleaner, deeper and placid waters, shorter distances between halts and the need for much smaller terminals.
Yet another advantage vis-a-vis Kochi is that water hyacinth and low-pressure hassles are not much of a threat there. Big ferries capable of transporting 100 passengers would be ideal for Kollam, although Kochi would get a mix of twenty-three 100-passenger and fifty-five 50-passenger ferries, informed sources said.
Infrastructure like operational control centre (OCC) and repair yard will , however, have to be constructed in each of the districts. This will be in sync with what Jose Matheickal, Director (Partnership and Projects) of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), said earlier this month after travelling in a Kochi Water Metro ferry on the Vyttila-Kakkanad route, of the huge potential to operate modern ferries in Kerala’s coastal districts. These ferries also hold tremendous tourism potential, considering the demand for them from tourists on the High Court-Vypeen route where they began operating in April, they added.
Demand for such ferries has come from, among other districts, Alappuzha, which is now served by ferries of the State Water Transport department (SWTD). The State government too is said to be keen to operate Water Metro-like ferries on the Kollam-Alappuzha route and in intra-district waterways. They also hold potential to operate from Vaikom, Beypore, and Kozhikode.
Kakkanad route
In the meantime, Water Metro ferries have increased their frequency on the Vyttila-Kakkanad route, from a ferry every 45 minutes, to one every 30 minutes. This, and the deployment of an electric feeder bus service from Kakkanad to Infopark, have increased footfall in the service, it is learnt.
