Scenes of heavy, old fuel-guzzling boats running near-empty to and fro the water-locked villages in Kuttanad will soon be a thing of past.
Aimed at offsetting a part of the losses incurred through the operation of services to a handful of destinations in the region, the State Water Transport department (SWTD) is coming up with a fleet of sleek, solar-powered vessels. Works on the first set of four boats which are slated to join the SWTD fleet later next year have begun at a boat yard in Panavalli, near Cherthala.
The new boats, according to officials, will be deployed in the loss-making sectors in Central Kerala , besides a couple of other destinations in Malabar.
Confirming the development, Shaji V. Nair, Director, SWTD, says the new boats would be much smaller in size than the metal boats currently operating in these routes. ``The deployment of solar boats, which will have 30 seats each, will help bring down the cost of operation, which far outstrips the income from some of these routes. The number of employees per operation too will come down in proportion to the size of these boats,’’ he says.
For instance, the SWTD incurs an average daily expenditure of ₹9,000 in operating in the Muhamma-Kannangara-Maniyaparambu sector while the revenue stands less than ₹3,000. The SWTD, however, continues to operate the route as its services serve as the primary link for the residents of these water-locked villages to the world outside.
``The introduction of the solar boat will help bring down the daily average fuel expenses to around ₹500 per day. The launching of the first four boats will be followed by another set of four boats in the remaining routes identified as loss-making,’’ adds Mr.Nair.
The department, meanwhile, is slated to launch its solar cruise boat in November this year . The AC double-decker boat, which will have 100 push-back seats on the lower deck and a party area on the upper deck, is for operating package trips connecting the various backwater destinations across Alappuzha and Kottayam
An additional fleet of two 75-seater solar boats are slated to hit the Vaikom- Thavanakkadavu and Panavalli-Cherthala routes around the same time. Plans are also afoot to turn the Vaikom boat station into energy-neutral by installing solar panels on its roof.
