Two crucial links of Lanka to India

A ferry service will connect Kankesanthurai in Jaffna to Karaikal in Puducherry. Image courtesy: Karaikal Port Sri Lanka has okayed two long-pending proposals which will connect Jaffna to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry – a flight from Jaffna to Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu and a ferry service from Kankesanthurai in Jaffna to Karaikal in Puducherry, reports The Indian Express.

The projects are aimed at boosting economic ties between the two nations and are expected to increase economic activity in Sri Lanka's north, which was at the centre of the civil war. They will make travel to the island nation easier from south India, thus providing a fillip to tourism in Sri Lanka, which is suffering from its worst-ever economic crisis. They will also strengthen the cultural bonds between the two regions with linguistic similarities.

There was connectivity between Tamil Nadu and the northern part of Sri Lanka – flights and ferry services – until the 1970s. After the war ended in 2009, talks to re-establish the links have been ongoing, according to the Express report.

What are the two projects? And why are they important? We take a look.

Air connectivity

In October 2019, the Palaly airport in Jaffna opened for international civilian flights for the first time. It was earlier a military base.

The first international flight to land there was an Air Alliance aircraft from Chennai, carrying top officials of the airline and journalists on board. It was a milestone moment, which restored old air links between the two cities which are not only geographically but also culturally and historically close to each other.

Commercial operations started on 1 November 2019 with three flights in a week and with daily service expected to start soon. However, the pandemic put it all to a halt.

The flights from Tiruchirappalli, an ancient city in Tamil Nadu, are expected to start once immigrant and custom posts are revived at the Jaffna airport Sri Lanka fisheries minister Douglas Devananda, who is also a Jaffna district parliamentarian, told The Indian Express.

Ferry service

A ferry service was proposed from the ports of Karaikal in Puducherry and Jaffna in February 2021.

Mansukh Mandaviya, who was then the Union minister of state for shipping, had said that the project would be on a private-public partnership (PPP) basis, where the operator would run the service, Karaikal Port will be the facilitator and the state and Centre would extend support. Back then, work had started to obtain immigration and customs clearance.

In July 2021, Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai, Doraisamy Venkateshwaran, visited Karaikal to discuss the early implementation of the ferry service. Dredging work at the Kankesanthurai (KKS) Harbour in the Jaffna district was completed by the Dredging Corporation of India, a public sector undertaking of the Government of India.

In 2018, India provided US $45.27 million for upgrading the harbour into a commercial port. It has also given funds for dredging of the approach channel, according to a report in The Hindu. The ferry project has got approval from the Sri Lankan cabinet. Implemented through the Sagarmala Development Company Limited, a Government of India enterprise, the ferry service is environmentally friendly.

The benefits

The two projects are expected to reduce travel time and enhance economic activities between India and Sri Lanka. The ferry connectivity will make travel cheaper.

Tamils from Sri Lanka often visit India for religious purposes. Besides, the Sinhalese also visit Buddhist places in India. The two projects will make travel easier for pilgrims from both nations.

Douglas Devananda told The Indian Express that the two new connections would bring a considerable number of pilgrims from south India for temple tourism in northern Sri Lanka.

The connection to Sri Lanka is expected to help in the development of Karaikal and bring business and economic development to Puducherry, particularly.

(Courtesy: www.firstpost.com)