Deserted boats land KSWTD in deep waters

KOCHI: The tug-of-war between the Kerala State Water Transport Department (KSWTD) and the tourist boat operators has taken a new turn with the department refusing to follow the High Court order directing it to take away the deserted  boats at the Menaka Boat Jetty.     Justice P N Ravindran, in his order dated December 21, had directed the Department to move away the abandoned ferry boats from the main jetty to other docks within a week. The order came after a slew of complaints came up against the Department from the tourist boat operators. Defending its stand, KSWTD Director Shaji V Nair said: “It’s a dedicated jetty for the boats of the KSWTD. The tourist boats have been berthing at the Marine Drive boat jetty for a long time. Lack of space there might have forced them to dock their boats here. The petitioners had not brought this to the attention of the Court. So, we have filed an affidavit based on this.”Also, the KSWTD officials stressed that the deserted boats at the jetty do not belong to them.“In fact, those boats belong to the Kerala State Inland Navigation Corporation KSINC) who used to manufacture boats for us. Soon after the delivery, we had asked them to take back these boats as all of them had manufacturing defects. So it is their responsibility to remove them from the jetty,” he said, adding that the remaining 14 boats of KSWTD, which are berthed at the dock, were fully operational. However, the Tourism Directorate said that there were repeated demands from both the Tourism department and the private boat operators to the KSWTD for shifting the unused boats which were hampering the smooth sailing of the tourist boats. According to the officials, the Regional Joint Director had also submitted a letter to the Station Master of the KSWTD asking them to dock their unused boats elsewhere. Kerala Tourism Development Society member K V Antony, who is also a private boat operator, said: “The boat jetty has two berths belonging to the tourism department and the KSWTD. But now both of them have been taken over by the KSWTD and they are not allowing the private operators to operate. The Court should find a solution to this.”