Construction of floating jetty at St. Mary’s Island gets delayed

The jetty will help tourists to alight directly on the island

February 20, 2019 01:39 am | Updated 01:39 am IST - UDUPI

Popular destination:  On an average, about 200 tourists visit St. Mary’s Island on weekdays, and the number goes up to 500 during weekends.

Popular destination: On an average, about 200 tourists visit St. Mary’s Island on weekdays, and the number goes up to 500 during weekends.

The construction of a floating jetty at the picturesque St. Mary’s Island, a popular tourism destination, about 6.5 km from the Malpe beach here has been delayed by at least nine months.

The palm-fringed island, declared a geological monument by the Geological Survey of India, is known for its unique basalt rock formations. Boats from the Malpe Tourist Jetty (behind Tebma Shipyard) ferry tourists from Malpe to the island.

But tourists heading to the island from the tourist jetty go close to the island in a big boat and are then shifted to a smaller boat in the sea. This boat then takes them closer to the island, where the passengers have to get down into the water and walk to the island.

A floating jetty, when constructed, would put an end to the problem of shifting of tourists in the sea and them getting into the water. The boat service is available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from September to May, barring those days when the sea is rough.

On an average, about 200 tourists visit the island on weekdays; this number goes up to 500 during weekends, and it further increases to 1,000 on weekends during summer and winter vacations.

The Department of Tourism had submitted a ₹3.75-crore proposal for the construction of a floating jetty and allied facilities at the island to the Union government under the ‘Swadesh Darshan’ scheme.

Anita B.R., Assistant Director of Tourism, told The Hindu that the proposal had been held up owing to technical problems. These were being ironed out.

“We expect an approval in a month. A team of Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. is expected here soon to get some clarifications. We will also take Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) approval. If the proposal still fails under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, we will put in our efforts to get it approved from the State government,” she said.

Meanwhile, Ganesh Amin, boat operator, said that the floating jetty would be of great benefit to tourists, especially women, children and senior citizens. It would also save time taken to shift tourists from big to small boats, he said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.