KOCHI: The Boating Centre near the Vasco da Gama Square in Fort Kochi is facing rough weather. Ashraf and Aboo, who have been jointly operating the boat centre for the past 15 years with the help of their friends, are now finding it difficult to make ends meet.The boat centre is their only means of living. Rides are few as foreign tourists prefer the boating services organised by their hotels or their guides to ours. Moreover, they don’t opt for boating rides in Fort Kochi.Ashraf said that they were not able to compete with the boating services offered at the Marine Drive.Neither the state government nor the tourism department has taken any steps to help or promote boating services in Fort Kochi in the same way as it is being promoted in the Marine Drive, they said. Fort Kochi’s unique Chinese net is one of its biggest advantages. Riding a boat and capturing the huge and elegant Chinese net is just amazing, they said. But still the demand for boat service is not even one-third of what it is in Marine Drive. Another drawback of the area is inadequate parking facility. There is no specific parking area though Fort Kochi has been ranked 51 in the list of the best tourist destinations by the Outlook Traveller.Ashraf, Aboo and their friends are confident of guiding tourists coming from any part of the country as they have good command of many languages. They can speak in English, Hindi and Tamil.Ashraf was all praise for the tourists from Tamil Nadu. Ashraf said, “The people of Tamil Nadu are good and highly helpful. They never hesitate to go for a tour at least once in a year. And they are fond of boating. They come in large groups in big tourist buses and enjoy group boating so much so that they tip us to express their gratitude.During March and April they come here with their families. Tourists from North India also visit Fort Kochi during the vacation. Last month we earned a good revenue because of the North Indian tourists,” they said. The major revenue-earning period is during the Sabarimala pilgrimage season and from January to March. Pilgrims who return from Sabarimala visit Fort Kochi. During off-season, the boatmen find it difficult to keep their hearths burning due to lack of demand for the service. They are operating boats that have been rented.The area where the current ticket office is functioning comes under the Kochi Corporation. They had submitted an application to Vinod Khanna, the then Union Minister for Tourism and Culture, during his visit to Kerala for the National Boat show in 2002. A similar application was submitted to Union Minister of State K V Thomas and Dinesh Mani also. But their requests have fallen on deaf ears.Now, the Boating Centre is at the mercy of the powers that be for a proper office.
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