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| Sunday, 15 August 2004 |
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Colombo-Cochin ferry service in the offing by Anton Nonis A ferry service from Sri Lanka to India would be ideal in promoting tourism between the two countries, according to Tourist industry sources. Ceylon Tourist Board Director-General, S. Kalaiselvam, told the `Sunday Observer' that investigations by the Board had shown a ferry service could lead to about 25 per cent rise in Indian tourists to the country. It is revealed that unlike tourists from Western countries, those from Asian regions are more concerned about cheaper modes of transport. Tourist Board statistics had shown that the average annual influx of Indian tourists was around 100,000 per year, with an equal number of Sri Lankans too visiting India, annually. The ferry service facility is expected to create more packages for tourists. Competition in the field may pave the way for cheaper travel for tourists. There was a ferry service between Talaimannar and Danuskodi about four decades ago, but it was subsequently suspended due to sea erosion in the mid-sixties. Thereafter, a service operated between Talaimannar and Rameshwaram. According to railway sources, the Colombo-Talaimannar line was created on 24th February, 1914 with a ferry service made available twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays), which had facilitated people of the two countries to journey between the two destinations in a big way. There had been constant transportation of goods too. As a result, an Indian warehouse was specially set up at Colombo to accommodate goods. The ferry service was also used to transport vehicles from India. The railway tickets issued were printed `SIR', indicating South Indian Railways, signifying how closely the then Ceylon Government Railway (CGR) collaborated with the Indian railway. The Talaimannar rail track branched off from Medawachchiya. However, the Colombo-Talaimannar line was scrapped off with the suspension of the Jaffna railway line on June 12, 1990 due to the ethnic conflict. Discussions by the authorities are now under way to resume a ferry service between Colombo and Cochin. Ceylon Shipping Corporation sources said that it had made a bold bid with the Tamil Nadu State to resume a ferry service between Colombo and Tuticorin, a distance of 140 nautical miles. However, the move did not materialise. Now, a fresh attempt is made to establish a service between Colombo and Cochin, a distance of 307 nautical miles. |
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