Centre seeks feasibility study from State on Rameswaram-Talaimannar ferry service

RAMANATHAPURAM: The Central Government has asked the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board to study the feasibility of resuming ferry service between the Rameswaram and Talaimannar and Tuticorin and Colombo sectors.

The proposal was agreed upon by Indiaand Sri Lanka a few days ago following the bilateral discussion between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaka in New Delhi.

Informed sources told The Hindu that the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board in turn asked a Chennai-based industrial and technical consultancy company to carry out the feasibility study and it has already started collecting data. The sources added that the study would focus on response from the people for the proposal, the approximate volume of passenger traffic between the two countries, the number of Sri Lankan Tamils, including refugees, living in the State, who might use the ferry service frequently, the cost of transportation, fees for using the ferry. The study would deal with the possibility of traders, merchants, tourists and fishermen movements between India and Sri Lanka, particularly from the border areas after the resumption of the service.

It was expected that it would boost the trade and business ties between two countries.

Hence, the volume of business and the materials and goods, wanted by Sri Lankans, would also be studied. – (The Hindu)