CM Vijayan should apologise to Oommen Chandy before launching seaplane service: Congress

Thiruvananthapuram : Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should apologise to late Chief Minister Oommen Chandy before launching the seaplane service in the state, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President K. Sudhakaran demanded on Saturday.

Sudhakaran’s statement comes a day after it emerged that Tourism and Public Works Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas will flag off the seaplane service meant to boost the state's tourism sector at Kochi on Monday.

“This project, the first in the country, was mooted by Chandy. In 2013, the CPI-M created havoc over this project by using the fisher folk community which led the project to be called off. Now after 11 years, the same CPI-M is launching this project. So in all fairness, Vijayan should render an apology to Chandy and also for causing a loss of Rs 14 crore to the state exchequer as all arrangements were made then, but failed to happen,” said Sudhakaran who is also the Lok Sabha MP from Kannur.

“So another dream project of Chandy is now becoming a reality, though he passed away 18 months back. Just like the CPI-M opposed mega projects which the Chandy government initiated including the Vizhinjam port, Kannur airport, Kochi Metro and the Kochi Smart City, the party is now taking credit for the seaplane project too,” added Sudhakaran.

The seaplane will land at the Cochin International Airport, Kochi on Monday at 2 p.m. and then, fly down to the water aerodrome at the Bolgatty Palace at Kochi.

A Switzerland-based private company and SpiceJet are the service operators of the De Havilland Canada seaplane, which will land in Kerala after the trial services conducted in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

After the inauguration, the flight crew and passengers will be accorded a reception at the Mattupetty Dam in the Idukki district.

The seaplane service, which comes under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) UDAN of the Centre’s Ministry of Civil Aviation, is aimed at increasing the connectivity of the airports and the backwaters of Kerala.

The seaplane project is aimed at amplifying the connectivity of the four airports as well as the water aerodromes. The project offers a lot of prospects to Kerala’s tourism sector due to the presence of abundant water bodies.

Apart from Bolgatty and Mattupetty, the setting up of waterdromes is under consideration in Kovalam, Ashtamudi, Punnamada, Kumarakom, Vembanad, Malambuzha, and Bekal.