In January, I wrote about a 20-seater boat that CIAL trusted us to rebuild. It was on its way to Thiruvananthapuram then. Today it starts work.
At 9 this morning, at Veli Tourism Village, Transport Minister Shri C.P. John inaugurates a passenger-cum-tourism boat service on the Parvathy Puthanar canal. The State Water Transport Department runs the service as part of the government’s 100-day action program. CIAL owns the boat. The Inland Navigation Department revived the waterway and made it navigable again.
The canal has a longer story than the boat. In 1824, 202 years ago, Rani Gowri Parvathi Bayi, Regent of Travancore, had it cut to link the capital with the backwaters to the north. The canal still carries her name. For generations it carried cargo and people into Thiruvananthapuram. Then roads and railways took over, and the canal was forgotten. It silted up, choked and faded from the city’s memory.
The boat was built in 2021 by Samudra Shipyard for Cochin International Airport. When CIAL decided to give it a new route and a heavier duty cycle, GreenShip by Navalt took on the upgrade. We installed an 80 kWh, 96V LFP battery bank, a 7.5 kVA solar PCU, a new charger and a redesigned DC panel. Then we recommissioned everything around them so the boat works as one system. The goal was simple. It had to run every day without drama.
That commuter fare matters most to me. A canal comes back to life when people use it every day. A one-time project does not do that. A quiet solar boat, with no diesel in the water and no smoke over the villages along its banks, is the right kind of traffic for a waterway a queen opened two centuries ago.
Now that goal meets a timetable. There are two round trips a day between Veli and Kadinamkulam, 9 AM to 1 PM and 2:30 PM to 6:30 PM. The boat carries 24 passengers. Kudumbashree serves tea and snacks on board. Tourists pay ₹400 for the round trip. Children aged 5 to 11 pay half, and children under 5 ride free. Commuters pay ₹80 one way from Veli to Kadinamkulam, or less for the shorter stretches through Chanankara.
Today CIAL Managing Director Shri S. Suhas hands over the boat’s agreement to the State Water Transport Department. A boat built in one yard and upgraded in another now changes hands a third time. Every handover needed trust. I am grateful to CIAL, and to SWTD Director Dr. J.O. Arun and his team, for carrying it this far.
If you are in Thiruvananthapuram, take the ride.
