CSML to fund ferry jetty with floating pontoons at Kamalakadavu in Fort Kochi

Customs jetty of the State Water Transport department (SWTD) will be renovated, while floating pontoons will be installed at its underutilised Kamalakadavu jetty in Fort Kochi by availing Cochin Smart Mission Limited (CSML) funds.

Customs jetty of the State Water Transport department (SWTD) will be renovated, while floating pontoons will be installed at its underutilised Kamalakadavu jetty in Fort Kochi by availing Cochin Smart Mission Limited (CSML) funds.

Once ready, the pair of jetties would considerably augment ferry services in the high-in-demand Ernakulam-Fort Kochi corridor, said sources. Ferry connectivity to West Kochi is set to further improve when the Water Metro’s much awaited Mattancherry jetty is commissioned in October. These berthing infrastructure facilities, with the one at Mattancherry able to host up to four ferries at a time, are expected to lessen congestion on the narrow roads and bridges that lead from the mainland to the densely populated West Kochi region.

Owing to its proximity to Mattancherry, the Customs jetty caters for commuters from the region and also from Fort Kochi. The long-overdue renovation would also cover what was once its parking area, sources said.

The West Kochi Passengers’ Association and tourism stakeholders have persistently been demanding that the SWTD resume ferry services to Kamalakadavu, which is located in the Fort Kochi heritage zone, by citing the hassles that tourists and regular commuters faced in traversing the over 1-km distance from the locale up to the Customs Jetty to board ferries to Ernakulam, Vypeen, and Willingdon Island.

CSML officials said floating pontoons, similar to ones used at Water Metro terminals, would be installed beside the roll on, roll off (ro-ro) ferry jetty at Kamalakadavu, so that commuters could safely board ferries, irrespective of high or low tide at the sea mouth. “We had awarded the works to a firm as an engineering procurement and construction [EPC] contract earlier this year. Its design is expected to be finalised this week, following which work can begin from the end of this month,” they added.

The SWTD had its share of commuters, although the Water Metro’s air-conditioned ferries from the High Court jetty began calling at the Fort Kochi heritage zone since April as the fare is ₹6 compared to ₹40 in the AC ferries, said sources in the department.

Welcoming the decision to install floating pontoons at Kamalakadavu to resume the SWTD’s ferry services to the heritage locale, Padmanabha Mallaya, president of West Kochi Passengers’ Association, said it would enable commuters to choose from between that and the Customs jetty. “For this, the Kochi Corporation must repair the ill-maintained road that leads from Kamalakadavu to the Customs jetty. Buses have been shunning the potholed route for over a year. On its part, the SWTD must prevail upon the Irrigation department to complete the long-overdue dredging of the Mattancherry jetty premises, so that commuters who pay more than double the fare in congested buses can once again opt for ferries that operate from here to Ernakulam,” he added.