Desolate roads, empty buses and deserted taxi stands, the impact of COVID-19 on the State’s transport sector is quite visible. The picture becomes clearer when you add to it the scenes of ferry boats making near-empty trips across Vembanad Lake.
As the pandemic continues to expand its footprints across the State, the ferry boats operated by the State Water Transport Department (SWTD) are experiencing a steep fall in operational revenue despite a recent hike in fares. As per estimates, the average income recorded by the department currently stands around 60% of the figures during the pre-lockdown days.
For instance, the daily collection of the Vaikom-Thavanakkadavu ferry, one of the busiest water routes in the State, currently stands around ₹15,000 as against the ₹35,000 in March this year. The ridership too has recorded a corresponding decline from 6,000 passengers a day to 2,000. “The response has been lukewarm even during office hours as passengers are turning to private vehicles and even travelling some extra distance by road to avoid contact. There has been occasions when a boat leaves a point with several passengers aboard and returns with passengers in single digits to the other side,” said an official of the SWTD.
Following the fall in number of passengers, the department is now making slight adjustments in its daily schedules and conduct full-scale operations only during peak hours. The lack of demand has also led to uncertainty over the resumption of several long-haul services, including the fast ferry boat connecting Vaikom and Ernakulam.
Schedules reduced
“Of the 746 daily trips of 59 schedules, we are operating only 43 schedules. Besides some of the long-haul services, the tourist operations too remain grounded. The demand, however, is increasing gradually with the easing of travel restrictions and is likely to be back to normal with the opening of educational institutions and other offices,” said Shaji V. Nair, Director, SWTD.
Earlier in May, the SWTD made an upward revision of its ticket fares, fixing the minimum charge at ₹8. The 33% fare hike was implemented to cover the prospective fall in overall revenue.
