Alappuzha/Alleppey:Developments,Photos & Discussions

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[Malayaali]

A dry dock coming up in Alappuzha

The State Water Transport Department (SWTD) is all set to construct a dry dock in the town for repairing its boats as well as private houseboats. The government has approved the Rs 3-crore SWTD proposal in this regard, clearing the way for the project.

It is being implemented as part of the government's one-year programme.

The dry dock will be constructed by the Steel Industries Kerala Limited (SILK) near the SWTD dockyard at Ponjikkara, near KSRTC bus station.

"As per the Kerala Inland Vessels Act 2010, all vessels have to be inspected by a surveyor once every 24 months. The SWTD operates 85 boats. In order to inspect all these boats, the department requires a dry dock in Alappuzha. Otherwise, we will have to manually pull the boats, weighing 20 to 23 tons, to the dockyard. It is risky and could damage the boats. The dry dock will have waterproof shutters and allows a vessel to sail in. At present, dry dock facility is available only for undertaking ship repairing works," SWTD director Shaji V Nair said.

"Four boats can be repaired in the dry dock at a time. For repairing private house boats, the fee would be Rs 65,000 per boat plus a daily rent of Rs 1,000. Houseboat operators here have extended full support to our project," Shaji said.

Tomi J Pulickattil, one of the main private houseboat operators in the district, told TOI that the State Water Transport Department dry dock would be of great use to them.

"At present, we deploy people to pull our boats into the dockyard for repair and inspection purposes. It is a tough task, and sometimes our boats get damaged in the process. So, the earlier a dry dock is constructed, the better,'' Pulickattil said.

"We have completed the construction of a new Rs 1.6 crore slipway dockyard at Ponjikkara and it will be inaugurated next month. The department has also requested the government to create 35 posts of operators to man the slipway dockyard and the new dry dock," Shaji V Nair said.

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KOZHIKODE, DEC. 28:
The Kerala Government has put in place a proposal for developing an inland marina in Alappuzha, which is known as the ‘Venice of the East'.

Home to backwaters and six navigable canals flowing through the city, Alappuzha has been a favourite destination for both domestic and foreign tourists and the proposed inland marina is part of a Government's development package to attract more tourists to the place.

Apart from the marina, the project includes building of a passenger ferry terminal and both land and water-based recreational facilities.

The canals in the city are now used for passenger and cargo transportation and the inland marina envisages integrated development of the canals by widening them as also by constructing boat landings.

The new city canal system is expected to enable the latest types of boats to move around the city without much of a hassle such as the ubiquitous water hyacinths now covering most parts of the canals .

The passenger terminal is meant to cater to the domestic sea cruise vessels carrying tourists from Ernakulam to Alappuzha.

In the initial phase till 2015, two passenger berths capable of accommodating four medium-sized vessels, each carrying 100 to 250 passengers, are proposed . And based on the anticipated growth in traffic, three more berths will be constructed after 2015, according to officials of the Department of Ports, which has been appointed as the nodal agency for the project

The third component of the package is development of land and water-based recreational spaces. On the land side, the proposed facilities include a dolphin pool, theme parks and a health spa. The water-based activities planned include water scooter, banana boat and speed boat rides.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...ue&ref=wl_home

[amalmohan]

https://keralaports.abcprocure.com/e...ha.pdf&b=b.doc

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ALAPPUZHA: Chief minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate Global Peace Palace, a monument for war heroes and victims of terror attacks built by AKB Kumar, an ex-service man, at Thumboli near here on January 27. The construction of the monument, a replica of Agra's Taj Mahal, started on January 28, 2008.

"I have spent Rs1.25 crore for constructing this monument dedicated to India's war heroes who sacrificed their lives for the nation," said 61-year-old Kumar at a press conference here on Friday.

Kumar was a chief petty officer in the Indian Navy. He had joined the Navy at the age of 15. During his 18 years of service, he participated in the Indo-Pak war in 1971.

"During that war, I lost some of my friends. It was then that I decided to set up a monument for war heroes. But then I did not have enough money for the purpose. Later, I joined as fire and safety engineer at Kochi Refineries and spent all my savings for constructing this monument. I even had to take a bank loan for completing the structure," he said. Kumar retired from Kochi Refineries last April.

The Global Peace Palace has four minarets representing the Army, Navy, Air Force and other forces. The central portion of the structure is dedicated to the victims of terror attacks. Kumar said people could visit the monument free of cost, and that he had sought government help for its protection.

Union minister of state for power KC Venugopal will preside over the inaugural function. TM Thomas Isaac MLA; KK Govindan Nair, director, Department of Sainik Welfare; U Pratibha Hari, district panchayat president; Saurabh Jain, district collector, and Mercy Diana Masido, the Alappuzha municipal chairperson, will grace the occasion.

AKB Kumar has also written two books. He won the `Gold Pen Literary Award', instituted by the National Ex-Servicemen Coordination Committee, for his book In the Year of Devil. His second book, We Were Also Human Beings, will be published soon.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/11332687.cms

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2 more companies setting up ops at Kerala’s first BPO park.

Kochi-based Claysys Technologies has opened its development centre at Infopark Cherthala, Kerala’s first BPO park and the second satellite campus of Infopark Kochi. Two other BPO companies — Betrons Info Systems and Webna Web Solutions Private Limited — are also setting up their operations here.

“We are developing Infopark Cherthala, in Alappuzha district, as a BPO hub. We are getting a lot of enquiries from companies and there is good demand for space as the cost is 30 per cent less than Infopark Kochi. Five companies are expected to be operational soon and will have more companies taking up space in the coming months,” said Infopark CEO Gigo Joseph.
The first phase of the park can house 500 professionals. The first phase will also have facilities such as incubation centre, conference hall, bank, ATM, cafeteria and dining hall. A part of the building will be developed as a plug and play facility for small and medium players. The building will be fully air conditioned and provided with 100 per cent back up power, fire protection, etc. Energy saving measures such as recycling of treated water for air conditioning, and energy saving lighting system have been incorporated.

http://www.business-standard.com/ind...rthala/458190/

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