Why in News?
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation the Kochi water metro, a first-of-its-kind public boat service integrated with a metro rail network, on April 25th.
What’s in today’s article?
- About Kochi Water Metro (Need, Components, Benefits, Cost, etc.)
- Key Facts for Prelims (Backwaters)
About Kochi Water Metro:
- Kochi, often referred as the commercial capital of Kerala, is one of the most densely populated districts in the state.
- Inland water transport was once the primary means of freight and passenger transport on the Vembanadu lake. Water transport is inherently more efficient than either rail or road transport.
- Kochi is abundantly blessed with waterways with over 1,100 kms of waterways available.
- However, only 40 kms out of these are considered navigable for motor boats.
- The system has been declining over the last few decades and has seen minimal investment and technology upgrade.
- The Kochi Water Metro project envisages the development of 15 identified routes, connecting 10 islands along a network of routes that span 78 km.
- This will be achieved through a fleet of 78 fast hybrid ferries plying to 38 jetties.
- Boats planned for the project are electrically propelled. However, they have the backup of diesel-powered generators.
- The Kochi Water Metro project is expected to reduce pollution and traffic congestions in the city and also ease access to business areas on the mainland for urban household situated along the Kochi lakeshore.
- It is also expected to give a big boost to the tourism sector in the Kochi backwaters, apart from giving a modern transport facility for people living on islands on the outskirts of Kochi.
Various Components of the Project:
- The various components involved in the Kochi Water Metro project are –
- Boat terminals and Access infrastructure
- Boats
- Boatyards
- Dredging along the identified routes and terminals
- Systems – navigation, CCTV, etc.
- All passenger facilities available in metro rail coaches will be offered on the boats. Besides, boat jetties have been designed similar to metro stations.
Total Cost of the Project:
- The Kochi Water Metro project has a total value of Rs 819 crores.
- Major part of this amount is financed under Indo-German Financial Cooperation with a long-term loan agreement.
Key Facts for Prelims:
- Backwaters –
- Backwater is water turned back in its course by an obstruction on opposing current or the flow of tide in a river channel.
- The backwaters were formed by the action of waves and shore currents creating low barrier islands across the mouths of the many rivers flowing down from the Western Ghats range.
- The Kerala backwaters are a network of brackish lagoons and canals lying parallel to the Arabian Sea of the Malabar coast of Kerala.
- The backwaters have a unique ecosystem: freshwater from the rivers meets the seawater from the Arabian Sea.
