KOCHI: In what might fully resolve the commutation woes of Mattancherry residents and provide tourists quick accessibility to the historic destination, the Kochi Water Metro Ltd (KWML) is set to launch services in the High Court-Mattancherry section from March end.
“We are aiming to start boat operations on the new route by March end. The services will have a halt at Willingdon Island but won’t touch Fort Kochi as the High Court-Fort Kochi section is an independent route where services are already available,” said Sajan P John, KWML COO.
The State Water Transport Department (SWTD) resumed boat services to Mattancherry after a gap of nearly six years on February 4 enabling residents and tourists to reach the popular destination quickly instead of travelling by road from Kochi city for over an hour. The SWTD was forced to stop operations on the Ernakulam-Mattancherry route post formation of large silt deposits in the backwater channel after the 2018 floods. The services remained disrupted after the irrigation department failed to carry out dredging on timely basis. It finally deployed a newly-acquired silt pusher machine to clear the navigation channel.
Though the services resumed, the SWTD can operate the services only during high tide.
“The boats can get stuck during low tide due to the shallowness. We won’t be operating during this period, especially in the late night and morning hours,” said an SWTD official.
However, KWML authorities exuded confidence that their services could be operated uninterruptedly in the section though dredging needed to be undertaken.
“We’ll be conducting dredging, too. However, we have the advantage that the terminal has been built on the lake and hence, can enjoy natural draft. We are expecting least issues due to this,” said the official.
In fact, the Mattancherry terminal would be large and spacious, unlike the one in Fort Kochi where only one boat can anchor at a time.
“There will be three berths at Mattancherry. It will ensure a better operating atmosphere,” Sajan said.
Water Metro is eyeing operational break-even upon commencing the High Court-Mattancherry section operation. The daily ridership has inched closer to the target of 7,000 since the launch of services on April 23, 2023.
“We need to operate on one more route to touch the 7,000-mark, and are gearing up to start services in the HC-Mattancherry section next month,” he said.