Construction of Ro-Ro terminal to begin today at Vypeen and Fort Kochi

Kochi: The city corporation is all set to begin the construction of modern Ro-Ro terminals at Vypeen and Fort Kochi. Minister for Local Self-Government K.T. Jaleel will lay the foundation stone for the terminal at a function to be held at jankar jetty, Fort Kochi, on Friday. The civic body is undertaking the terminal construction using the annual plan funds allocated in the last fiscal. The terminals with modern facilities will be built at an estimated cost of Rs. 7.15 crore.

Mayor Soumini Jain, MLAs Hibi Eden, K.J. Maxi, P.T. Thomas, M. Swaraj, and K.V. Thomas MP will also attend the function. Meanwhile, the delivery of the Ro-Ro vessels under construction at the Cochin Shipyard will be delayed as the engines imported for the construction were rejected by the department of ports on safety grounds. The vessels are expected to be delivered by August-end. The introduction of the two modern RO-RO vessels will improve the safety of ferry services, according to civic authorities.

The Ro-Ro jankars are designed in such a way that vehicles can be driven on and off the vessel easily unlike the current one. Each vessel can carry four trucks weighing 10 tonnes, 12 cars and 50 passengers. With this, the congestion and waiting time at jetties can be reduced considerably.

The civic body had launched the Ro-Ro project under the 'Mission Kochi 15-8-15' programme initiated by the previous UDF council and it has received financial assistance from the Kerala Urban and Rural Development Finance Corporation (KURDFC) to purchase the vessels.