The Hindu Business Line : `Inland waterways in Kerala hold immense tourism potential'

A houseboat plying the waterways of Alappuzha. Apart from transport needs, inland waterways offer good potential for tourism purposes. - K.K. Mustafah

Kochi , March 10

INLAND waterways in the State offer a unique opportunity for the development of tourism apart from its navigational importance and potential for fisheries, according to Mr T. Elangovan, Director, National Transportation Planning and Research Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.

However, a co-ordinated development of inland waterway system and tourist infrastructure is necessary for the increase in tourist traffic in both foreign and domestic sector, he said in a paper presented at a recent seminar here on the Relevance on Inland Waterways in Kerala.

With a number of lagoons and interconnecting canals and rivers, the IWT system in the State provide an ideal mode for tourist traffic. The navigational system itself, if developed and integrated fully with the necessary tourist infrastructure, would become a tourist resort, he said.

Mr Elangovan pointed out that a section of waterways could be projected as a tourist circuit for both domestic and foreign tourists. Project reports are already being prepared for developing the Thiruvananthapuram-Kollam section of TS Canal for houseboats operation.

The Kuttanad-Pampa region and the backwaters of northern Kerala also have immense potential. The State Government had initiated major infrastructure development projects for promoting backwater tourism in Kerala, he added.

Most of the wildlife sanctuaries in Kerala are situated in the catchments areas of rivers. At the wildlife sanctuary at Thekkady, the Periyar river has been dammed to provide an extensive fresh water lake to enabletourists to have boat cruises.

In Vembanad Lake and other backwaters, there are areas suitable for aquatic sports and other activities. Houseboats in the waterways help attract a large number of foreign as well as domestic tourists to the State, he added. Thus, development of inland waterways can act as an important tool for promotion of tourism, Mr Elangovan said.

Likewise, main tourist centres such as Kochi, Alappuzha, Kodungallur, Ponnani, Thriprayar, Cheruthuruthy etc along the West Coast Canal route also offers good potential for pilgrim tourism.

Highlighting some environment-related issues pertaining to the waterways, he said many stretches did not have the required flow due to neglect, which, in turn, leads to environment degradation. At many places the canals and waterways are used as drainage channel of effluents.

A recent study of the town canals of Alappuzha revealed the seriousness of the issue. Moreover, canal bank erosions and silting have reduced the draft, which has resulted in the gradual reduction of traffic. There is a need to maintain water quality in the backwaters and canals, he said.

It is also necessary to integrate IWT with coastal shipping for the movement of cargo to ports. With the canal system connecting the ports, it would be economical to distribute the cargo through waterways.

It may be possible to integrate inland waterways with coastal ports to accommodate coastal and international traffic, he said.

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