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.
