Vallarpadam project is ‘full of faults,’ says Hon’ble Union Minister of Road Transport. Vizhinjam will be a ‘nil-benefit’ project, says E Sreedharan. Yet if the Kerala and Central governments are convinced that it is worth pumping in a huge amount of money into the proposed Vizhinjam project, the obvious question that crops up is, who is to be believed, seasoned politicians or a seasoned visionary and performer? If the Rs 3,500-crore Vallarpadam project is literally a non-starter and is performing at 35 per cent capacity, all the related factors are to be looked into and analysed thoroughly so that the same are not replicated at Vizhinjam. But both the State and Central governments are silent on how a Vallarpadam-like situation will not recur at Vizhinjam. It is common knowledge that political expediency often overtakes normal business sense; but closing your eyes to the harsh realities on the ground is unpardonable.
Although we have been boasting of challenging the Colombo port all these years, with the latter marching ahead aggressively with active Chinese support, nobody is seen making such tall claims these days. The obvious question now is about the fate of the younger cousin, a new entrant and competitor in an industry which is fiercely competitive. There is nothing like a friendly fight in the present day corporate world and it should not be forgotten that when the crisis deepens, promoters have their own well-charted escape routes and ultimately, it is the State which may have to hold the under-nourished babies one day or the other.
In a highly politically sensitive and articulate State like Kerala, where majority of the population are more comfortable living outside the borders, there is nothing wrong in clamouring for an international airport in each district, a railway station at walking distance and a few ports here and there.
If the politically and economically powerful Pathanamthitta district had a coastline of its own, they too would have bargained for one of these ports. On paper, all these projects would be ‘technically feasible’ and ‘financially viable’ and we could hire any number of consultants who would prepare neatly bound project reports which would vouchsafe for its viability. And based on such voluminous project reports, the cash-rich NRI-backed banks of Kerala would be too happy to extend their lending arms. However, situations change dramatically when the implementation is on, due to a host of factors which are commonly identified with Kerala. Although Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) is an honourable exception, the state cannot afford to have the luxury of too many success stories at the same time.
Vallarpadam had been a dream-come-true to me. Not my dream, but the dream of some of my favourite characters in the novel Marupiravi (Re-birth) based on the history of the ancient port Muchiripatinam, conveniently changed as Muziris by the Greeks and Romans. Fascinated by the initial finds in the excavations in our nearby village Pattanam by a team of historians and archaeologists from the Kerala History Council, I spent more than four years delving into the history of Muziris, which was a prominent port on the Arabian coast about two thousand years back. Muziris, a major international hub trading with Alexandria on the Mediterranean, is believed to have disappeared from the face of earth after the deluge in the Periyar River in the year 1341. When the river in spate found a new course to the Arabian Sea, a new port called Kochazhi emerged that later became the present Cochin port. Historians and travellers have recorded that small ships without engines set sail from the port of Bernice on the Red Sea used to reach our western coast on the 40th day with the help of the southwest Monsoon winds so as to return a couple of months later backed by the easterlies. There were a few other ports like Naura, Tindis, Nelkyinda, and Bakare on the western coast and it is estimated that around 120 ships used to anchor at these ports every year for trading in spices, mainly pepper.
Although the finds from Pattanam excavations could not provide conclusive proof that the port of Muziris was located there, there are sufficient indications to come to a reasonable conclusion that Pattanam area was part of the Muziris related activities.
In a part of the novel, I had tried to fictionalise through myths, legends and imagination the life and times of the people who had inhabited the area during that period. This includes the story of a rich Greek merchant who developed an intimate relationship with Vadakkoth Thanka, a charming local woman. Obviously, he showered his largesse on the family during his annual Monsoon sojourns and when his visits stopped during the decline of the Roman trade, the avaricious woman did not know what to do with the huge bounty of wealth accumulated during the glorious era of Muchiri. When her dream of putting up transhipment warehouses on the shore fails, she had to lead a miserable life. This story is carried forward into subsequent births where her granddaughter Vadakkoth Kunkamma accomplishes her grandma’s dream by entering the cargo business in a big way. She dreams of the upcoming Vallarpadam Container Terminal growing into a huge transhipment hub and a major global player. For her Vallarpadam was the re-birth of Muchiripatinam and always an inveterate optimist, she was sure that the golden days of Muchiri are to return. It will be a new Muchiri with all the trappings of the contemporary hi-tech world. So despite the initial hiccups, when the first stage of the Terminal was commissioned, she is excited and draws up ambitious plans for business expansion through various futuristic moves and she was confident that the Vallarpadam Terminal would prove to be an icon in the history of Indian Ocean exchanges.
As the creator, I feel sad that these brilliant moves of my dear Kunkamma have gone awry. I will not be surprised if this young entrepreneur would put up her hands one day accepting defeat and would pray for returning to her own small world of unfulfilled dreams.
The author is a Malayalam novelist and former Chairman & CEO of South Indian Bank. E-mail: sethu42@gmail.com