KOCHI: The residents of Fort Kochi and Vypeen can soon heave a sigh of relief soon as their long standing demand for RO-RO(Roll-on/roll-off) jhankar service on the Fort Kochi-Vypeen Route is all set to become a reality. The Cochin Shipyard Ltd(CSL), entrusted with the task of building the jhankar, will organise the floating ceremony of first jhankar at the shipyard on Wednesday. Mayor Soumini Jain will be the chief guest at the function.
“ At present only the first jhankar will be floated and the floating of the second one will take place within a few days. With the commissioning of the project the travel woes of the public in West Kochi will be solved to a great extent. This is not only going to benefit Fort Kochi and Vypeen residents but it will give a fillip for the Water Metro project,” the Mayor told Express.
The double-ended ferry, with propellers and ramps at both ends of the vessel, is adorned with white, light green and dark blue colours. The words, ‘Kochi Municipal Corporation’ and ‘Cochin Shipyard Ltd’, along with the connecting route will be emblazoned on the sides of the ferry.
“ As per the design, the vessel can carry four lorries, 12 cars (Maruti ) and 50 passengers on a single trip. With its launch, West Kochites’ travel woes will come down greatly. As the vessel is designed with Azimuth Propulsion system on both ends, the vessel can be operated without the need to turn around at the jetty,” the Mayor said.
The City Corporation has spent nearly `3.8 cr for one vessel and altogether `7.6 cr has been spent on the two jhankars. The civic body had launched the Ro-Ro project under the ‘Mission Kochi’ initiative. The fund required for building the vessels has been provided by the Kerala Urban and Rural Development Finance Corporation (KURFDC).
However, the Corporation has not revealed the exact date of launching the service as the construction of jetty costing `7.5 crore is yet to be completed. “We are happy with the progress of the jetty construction at both Vypeen and Fort Kochi. We expect to complete the construction with in few months,” Soumini Jain added.
pinning hopes on the project
The vessel can carry four lorries, 12 cars (Maruti ) and 50 nos of passengers in a trip.
The Fort Kochi boat tragedy expedited the building of the jankar.
This is the first time a RO-RO ferry is being built at Cochin Shipyard.
The total construction cost of the two jhankars is T7.6 crore
The civic body had launched the Ro-Ro project under the ‘Mission Kochi 15-8-15’ initiative.