By P.K.Balachandran/Sunday Observer
Colombo, October 22: When the high-speed vessel Cheriyapani of the Shipping Corporation of India made its maiden voyage from Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu to Kankesanthurai (KKS) in Jaffna on October 14, it was only the latest in a series of attempts by India at providing a passenger ferry service between India and Sri Lanka.
The saga of ferry services between India and Sri Lanka is one of successes as well as failures, triumphs as well as tragedies.
Till the end of the 19 th.Century, Indo-Ceylon passenger traffic comprised plantation workers and traders moving between Tamil Nadu (and Kerala) in India and Ceylon across the Palk Strait. The movement was in country boats and catamarans and that in an unorganized manner.
In the early 1900s, as the traffic increased with the growth of the plantation sector and urbanization in Ceylon, organized movement started. The transportation was through Thoothukudi port in Tamil Nadu, India and Colombo port in Ceylon.
To ease the flow of passengers from the interior to the ports of embarkation, the British-owned South Indian Railway and the Ceylon Government Railway, built rail links. Passengers could buy through-tickets to cover both the rail and sea journey.
But the Thoothukudi-Colombo sea journey took 21 to 24 hours. Moreover, embarkation at Thoothukudi those days was very unsafe especially in inclement weather as ships used to be anchored miles into the sea.
By the end of the first decade of the 20 th.,Century, the South Indian Railway and the Ceylon Government Railway had planned to establish rail links to Dhanushkodi at the Indian end, and Thalaimannar at the Ceylon end, so that there could be a ferry service across the Palk Strait. The journey would be shorter.
Another idea that was seriously considered (and found feasible too), was building a rail bridge across the Palk Strait. But this was given up because the estimated cost of Indian Rupees 249 lakhs was deemed excessive.
However, a rail track linking Rameswaram to Dhanushkodi was completed in 1914. A 2065 meter-long cantilever bridge was built to let ships pass under the bridge. As it was considered an engineering marvel, the inauguration of the railhead was an occasion for inviting the international press. The ceremony was presided over by John Sinclair, the Governor of Madras, in the presence of Robert Chalmers, the Governor of Ceylon.
From 1914 onwards, ferries plied between Dhanuskodi and Thalaimannar regularly. The service was considered a boon to passengers. The American newspaper Boston Evening Transcript hailed the ferry service saying: “The misery and sea-sickness of the long sea journey between Colombo and Tuticorin (the British name for Thoothukudi) will be a thing of the past.”
As the rail cum ferry service proved a commercial success, the Indian government gave up the idea of building a rail bridge across the Palk Strait.
The ferry was used extensively by Indian traders to transport pulses, vegetables, fruits and other goods to Ceylon, which was highly dependent on India for most of its supplies at that time. As the British plantation owners kept getting labourers from Tamil Nadu, fears began to grow among the majority Sinhalese in Ceylon about being overwhelmed by Indian-origin Tamils.
In 1944, 90% of wholesalers, 60% of medium dealers, and 40% of retailers in Ceylon were Indians according to a study based on government records. This made SWRD Bandaranaike tell the Ceylonese media in 1941: “All trade and business, from the smallest village boutique – village store – to the biggest business in our towns is controlled to a very great extent by outsiders, chiefly Indians. Lands are also fast passing into the hands of big Indian capitalists. Unemployment is rampant. It is really becoming a matter of stark survival.”
At Ceylon’s independence in 1948, a visa system was introduced that made travel to Ceylon in search of a better livelihood difficult. The Indian Tamils, barring a few, were also disenfranchised and made Stateless in 1949. Later Ceylon entered into pacts with India to repatriate lakhs of people of Indian origin chiefly plantation labour.
But legitimate travel was allowed and the Palk Strait ferry service continued despite disruptions by cyclones.
However, the beginning of ethnic violence in Sri Lanka in 1983 brought an end to the ferry service. It was only in June 2011 that a service was started. It was between Thoothukudi and Colombo. It was a luxury service run by an Indian firm using an American cruise vessel Scotia Prince.
This vessel had a capacity to carry 1000 passengers. Two crossings each way per week were planned. Sri Lanka’s state-owned Ceylon Shipping Corporation also planned to start a similar service.
But the service hit a snag. After a few sailings, it was stopped. Operational difficulties and lack of traffic were cited as reasons. Travel agents in Colombo explained the lack of a clientele saying that passengers would have liked the service to be between Chennai and Colombo or Chennai and Jaffna rather than Thoothukudi and Colombo. For most passengers, Thoothukudi was not the desired destination in India, as it was neither a metropolis nor a well-connected place.
On top of it all, the Sri Lankan fuel supplier to the ship had filed a case at the Colombo Commercial High Court against Flamingo Liners for non-payment of dues. According to Sunday Times, Scotia Prince was detained by Colombo port authorities on a court order.
But the Indian government was very keen on improving connectivity with Sri Lanka, especially with the Tamil-speaking Northern Province. Efforts were made to improve air services through Jaffna. That took time, but it was started.
Revival of the ferry service across the Palk Strait was also envisaged because it would suit the common man. But the KKS port was not ready. It was only on October 14, 2023, a ferry service was started between Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu and KKS). The vessel Cheriyapani, a high-speed craft that can accommodate 150 passengers was pressed into service. Owned by the Shipping Corporation of India, it could carry 50 passengers.
Asked why Nagapattinam was chosen as the embarkation point in Tamil Nadu, Pradeep Yadav, Principal Secretary Ports and Highways in Tamil Nadu said that it was only 60 nautical or 110 km from KKS. Maravanpulavu Sacchchithananthan, leader of the Jaffna-based Siva Senai and a supporter of the ferry service, said that Nagapattinam port had been improved recently with an outlay of INR 90 million.
The Nagapattinam-KKS ferry is meant to be a daily service. But it has now been brought down to a trip every alternate day because of a shortage of passengers. Moreover, the service would have to be suspended from October 22 because of the onset of the North-East monsoon.
Be that as it may, the Indian and Tamil Nadu governments are determined to continue the service after the monsoon break because New Delhi is determined to improve connectivity with Sri Lanka and other countries in the Indian Ocean region. This was pointedly mentioned by the Indian External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar at the Indian Ocean Rim Association’s Council of Ministers meeting in Colombo on October 11.
But lack of clientele appears to be a persistent problem. It was so in the case of the 2011 Thoothukudi-Colombo ferry service. Pradeep Yadav, Principal Secretary Ports and Highways in the Tamil Nadu government, said that an intensive advertising campaign is being waged to increase awareness of the ferry. Tickets are priced at less than INR 8000 and each passenger can carry 50 kg of luggage. Government is also going to get a vessel which can operate at night, Yadav said. Cheriyapani can operate only in day-time.
The operators and their supporters are touting the ferry as suitable for pilgrims. The Indian Minister of Ports and Shipping, Sarbananda Sonowal, said in Nagapattinam that landing in Nagapattinam should suit Sri Lankan Hindus going to worship in the famous temples in south Tamil Nadu. Catholics could go to the Velankanni church and Muslims could go to the Nagoor Dargah, he pointed out. Maravanpulavu Sachchthananthan is promoting Hindu pilgrimages.
However, the KKS port has to be kept constantly dredged, said Sachchithananthan. “The depth of the KKS port should be 4.5 metres but it is only 3.5 metres now because of silting,” he said.
Thedeployment of the vessel Cheriyapani has created a problem in Lakshadweep islands of the Kerala coast, as that ship was plying between the Lakshadweep islands and Cochin (now Kochi) in Kerala. The Cheriyapani’s withdrawal has deprived the people of the Laskshadweep islands a vessel which was being used for journeys to the farthest island in the group, namely, Minicoy.
The people of Lakshadweep who depend on the sea link with Cochin for all their needs, have demonstrated against the withdrawal of the vessel. Sources say that the vessel will be restored to the Cochin-Lakshadweep route because the effort is to get for the Nagapattinam-KKS route, a vessel that can operate both in day and night.
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