Trade & Tourism to Be on High Tide

TIRUCHY: As announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, arrangements to commence the passenger ferry service from Nagapattinam to Kankesanthurai in Sri Lanka have been formalised from both sides.

Almost all the required works at Nagai port have been completed and the service is all set to be flagged off on October 10 with which, religious tourism and trade would get a boost in both the countries.

Nagapattinam, the coastal town in Tamil Nadu played a prominent role during the period of medieval Cholas between 9 and 12 centuries and served as their major port for commerce and eastbound naval expeditions.

From Nagai port, ornamental items, handicrafts, and perfumes were exported to the east Asian countries and there was a passenger ferry from the port to countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and beyond.

Thus, the port once busy, lost its sheen in due course of time and in the modern time, the port was used for exporting onion and shallots to the South East Asian countries until the Port Klang in Malaysia was upgraded and facilitated to handle containers in 1991. From then, the Malaysian port played a major role in container handling.

“With the export of onion by the Vessel TIBA on September 16, 1991, the export from the Nagai port was called off,” the local senior exporters said. However, in 1999, the Nagapattinam port resumed its activities briskly as the government imported palm oil and coconut cakes.

From then on, as many as 17 minor ports in Tamil Nadu were seen busy with activities.

Gradually, Nagai became the only port that could import palm oil from Indonesia, and later on, the port was left abandoned and the traders and the public from Nagapattinam were demanding the State government to renovate the port.

As there was a huge demand from people from various walks of life, in 2011, the then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa allocated a fund of Rs 380 crore for the renovation of the port but the works which commenced could not take off due to few administrative issues.

Meanwhile, the DMK after forming a government, continued to appeal to the union government to initiate steps for the restoration of the ancient port of Nagapattinam, and thus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised the Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways to study the feasibility of the revival of the port. The Union Ministry of Ports assigned the Shipping Corporation of India officials to visit the spot, and the works were carried out.

In the meantime, the Indian High Commission to Colombo, on July 17, made an India-Sri Lanka Joint Committee appointed under MoU on Passenger Transportation by Sea held a virtual meeting on July 14 where Rajesh Kumar Sinha, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways of the Government of India and KDS Ruwanchandra, Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Aviation of the Government of Sri Lanka held discussions in which they agreed to resume ferry services between the two countries connecting mutually agreed points.

Both sides agreed that the resumption of ferry services will boost regional trade and tourism and promote stronger people-to-people ties. Though the service was initially agreed to operate between Karaikkal and Kankesanthurai, it was shifted to Nagapattinam as the Karaikal Port which is operated by Adani Group primarily focuses on coal transport and industrial purposes could be be risky for passenger handling.

Now, the Nagapattinam port is almost ready for operation and the officials are in the process of having trial runs between Nagapattinam and Kankesanthurai port.

The Tamil Nadu government embarked on an effort to dredge and modernise the Nagapattinam port with a fund of Rs 3 crore allocated by the Union Government to modernise Nagapattinam port.

Following this, separate rooms were constructed in the port for everything from obtaining travel documents, medical examination, security and inspection of belongings brought by passengers.

Shipping Corporation of India sources said that a High-Speed Craft (HSC) Cheriyapani would be deployed for the purpose which can accommodate 150 passengers with around 30 crew and this would make a low-cost travel from India to Sri Lanka with the travel time of three hours and the passenger can carry 40 kg of luggage for free.

According to A Ashokan, a tour operator from Tiruchy, this would be the best choice for the people from the island nation, especially from the northern province, to visit religious places in Nagapattinam, Nagore, Velankanni, Thirunallar and others.

“They can also visit Thanjavur, Tiruchy, Pudukkottai, Perambalur and Ariyalur where there are more number popular temples, shrines and monuments and there is a scope for boosting religious tourism along the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka,” he said. “Similarly, it would also help the tourists from Tamil Nadu and other places of the country in visiting prominent places of worship in Colombo and down south of the island nation,” he added.

State fishers eye reduction in mid-sea attacks

Fishermen from the region who expressed the passenger ferry service as a welcoming move, said that it would strengthen the watchkeeping on board that would reduce the mid-sea attacks on the Tamil Nadu fishermen which have been witnessed frequently.

Since the ferrying route would be notified to the local fishermen, their regular fishing activities would not be affected as the ferries move on the notified route and no longer would divert unless there is an emergency. “Mostly Nagapattinam fishermen opt for shallow fishing, they might not go deeper than 10 metres depth and so they might not undergo any difficulties.

At the same time, the mechanised boats that prefer deep sea fishing have many of a latest equipment and they can also record the ferry route on their GPS which would prevent any interference and so operating the passenger ferry service will no way affect the local fishermen,” A Thajudeen, General Secretary, Tamil Nadu Meenavar Peravai and president of Mechanised Boat Owners Association.

Thajudeen further said, the passenger ferry service would have all-round security on board and it would further monitor the movements of any unwanted elements in the mid-sea.

He also claimed that the illegal transportation to the island nation would be controlled once the passenger service gets materialised. “Often, the local fishermen become scapegoats once the authorities receive any information on illegal activities and this would also be avoided,” he added.