Kerala - Kochi   

If only Kerala had better roads...

TRADITIONAL BEATS: The guests from Macedonia enjoying a `chendamelam' performance in Kochi. Photo: Vipinchandran

Tourist locales in Kerala are fabulous, but road connectivity and the transport system leave much to be desired. This was an observation made by a group of 15 Macedonians, who were on a nine-day tour of Kerala.

The leader of the group, Goran Antevski, said places like Munnar were very interesting, but road connectivity was not so good. "Ever since we touched down at the airport here, members of the group were quite baffled at the sight of different types of vehicles - big and small, which `co-exist' on the roads. Back home, roads are safer and cleaner than here," he said.

Alexandra Kapedanovska, a member of the group, said that though Kerala might be cleaner than other parts of India, there much needed to be done here.

"It's all a matter of comparison," said Kosta Kancevski. "Macedonia is dirty as compared to spic-and-span Japan. Civic bodies are responsible for garbage disposal. Every three days, a truck arrives to collect garbage from our homes. Years back, we were faced with acute problem of sewage disposal. Thus, a system was installed to clean wastewater and pump it into a lake. The recycled water was then used for drinking."

Tourism is just developing in Macedonia. It has mountains, natural lakes, churches and monuments dating back to the Ottoman Empire."Next year, you can expect at least a Jumbo full of people from our place," said Mr. Kancevski.

They came here as guests of Alumni Society of AOTS (ASA), which is part of a network of NGOs that functions under the Japanese Government to promote friendship between Japan and developing countries.

The Macedonians were quite impressed at the presentation made on national TV by six of their countrymen, who visited the State a year ago to participate in a small and medium enterprises meet, held in Kochi. They had also spread word about Kerala and its people.

John L. Paul

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