Kerala - Alappuzha   

Eight steel boats for water transport

— PHOTO: BY special arrangement

STEADY COURSE: An SWTD boat sets out on a service trip from the Alappuzha jetty on Saturday.

ALAPPUZHA: The State Water Transport Department (SWTD), which is on a rare high these days in financial terms, will soon have a website of its own, one which will aim at attracting foreign tourists.

The SWTD, which was running in loss for the last several decades, is aiming at a series of modernisation efforts as well, after it posted an income of Rs.5.23 crore in 2008-2009 fiscal, compared to the revenue of less than Rs.4.5 crore in 2007-2008.

Even that was a record for the department in that year, according to SWTD director Shaji V. Nair.

The rise in income, Mr. Nair told The Hindu here on Saturday, was due to the streamlining of the departments functioning, particularly with regard to the ability to identify what went wrong where and the arrangements made for immediate response to issues that cropped up during the 47 schedules that the department operated using 53 boats from areas including Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Kottayam and Kollam.

The computerisation of schedules helped in identifying reasons for cancellation of several trips. With a database made available and the dock at Alappuzha being modernised to some extent with an electronic winch, repairs were done immediately and cancellation of trips came down to a minimum.

“Now, we are planning a modern slipway near the Alappuzha dock, which can handle four boats simultaneously. The foundation stone for the Rs.2-crore project will be laid by this month-end and it will be functional in 18 months”, Mr. Nair said, stating that the dock at Thevara too was now conducting repairs at a fast pace.

The department would soon have eight steel boats, replacing the existing wooden ones. Efforts were also being made to reduce the deafening engine sound inside the boat to make the journey a more pleasant affair. Facilities to enable preventive maintenance too were being worked out.

The website, meanwhile, was aimed at attracting foreign tourists, for whom a journey on an SWTD boat would be a much more affordable option than renting a costly houseboat. Moreover, an SWTD boat would offer trips covering more distances than a regular houseboat route.

The SWTD, which began operations in 1968, is still the sole mode of transport for thousands of people in remote regions of the water-logged Kuttanad.

The department is also operating a few ambulance services in these regions, which will also be streamlined shortly for increased efficiency.

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Eight steel boats for water transport

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