Regular movement of containers and heavy machinery through National Waterway-IX that links Kochi with Kottayam is set to begin in the first week of March, even as National Waterway-III between Kollam and Kottapuram remains shoddily underutilised, 12 years after its inauguration.
Stakeholders of the Kottayam port have readied a 240-tonne barge that is capable of ferrying eight 20-foot containers or four 40-foot containers through the inland waterway to the Kochi port. “A trial run on the corridor is over, in which heavy machinery was transported in the barge. It cost us lesser than the expense that would have incurred to transport it in lorries,” said Abraham Varghese, MD of the Kottayam port.
Transporting it in extra-wide lorries on road would have created severe traffic hold-ups in Kottayam town and Alappuzha. There are also safety hazards posed by low-hanging power lines, he said.
Energy efficient, economical
Waterways offer the most energy-efficient and least-polluting mode of transport. They also lessen congestion, pollution and accidents on roads. On its part, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has installed buoys on the waterway, to enable safe navigation during night time too.
Mr. Varghese said that efforts were on to procure a 150-tonne crane on lease to handle cargo for the barge. The barge will operate a return trip every day through the waterway. “Foreseeing a leap in container and other cargo movement, we intend to shortly roll out a second barge on the route. The barge that is slated to commence operation in March has a draft as low as 1.2 metres and can easily call at container yards located beside most waterways and this will give a fillip to export-import trade through the waterway. Its low draft also enables smooth transit beneath low-lying bridges,” he said.
Bigger barges that can carry up to 20 containers can be operated in the corridor when the central span of the Thaneermukkom bund is opened, it is learnt.
Plans are also afoot to rope in oil companies to transport fuel and LPG in bulk through the waterway from Kochi to Kottayam. In the long run, we plan to ferry non-perishable goods like tiles and other construction materials from Gujarat to Kottayam through the waterway, Mr. Varghese said.
Further incentivising water transport, the State government has revived the subsidy scheme to barge operators at ₹1 per tonne per km. There is increasing demand for subsidy being extended to construction of barges and other vessels which transport cargo and passengers.