kerala state water transport department type separate government department in the state of kerala . industry public transport ferry service founded 1968 headquarters alappuzha kerala india area served kerala products passenger and cargo ferry services operates 81 boats divisions 13 website http swtd.kerala.gov.in swtd ferry on service in the kerala backwaters junkar service fort cochin swtd ferry at ashtamudi lake disembarking passengers kerala state water transport department swtd is a governmental department that regulates the inland navigation systems in the indian state of kerala and provides inland water transport facilities . it stands for catering to the traffic needs of the inhabitants of the waterlogged areas of the districts of alappuzha kottayam kollam ernakulam kannur and kasargode . 1 the department is headed by the state minister in charge of transportation . this system consists of 1895 kilometers of waterways including navigable rivers backwaters and man made cross canals . most of these are in travancore cochin region . of the 44 rivers in kerala 41 of the westward flowing rivers combine with back waters and man made canals to form an integral part of inland navigation system . even through it is a commercial department its functioning is like a service department ever since transportation came under essential service in kerala . the department transports about 150 lakhs of passengers per annum using wooden steel and fibreglass passenger boats . contents 1 history 2 organisation structure 3 fleet 4 schedule 5 tourism initiative 6 external sources 7 references history edit the kerala state water transport department formed during 1968 with its headquarters directorate in the district of alappuzha.the objective of the department was to provide transport facilities and cargo transportation to the people residing in the water logged areas at cheaper rates . construction of roads bridges and roadways shortened the operation of the department to passenger transport only providing backwater transport through ferries . the system is free of pollution accidents and is affordable.the government has now mooted setting up kerala state boat jetty corporation with a vision to convert the boat jetties in kerala to world class standards.this corporation will enhance and develop the boat jetties into commercial assets for the state . some jetties were identified for development like marine drive jetty kaavalam jetty and kumaran jetty.jetty based shopping centers and cafeterias are sources of huge returns . the system provides on average 79 000 km of service to 80 000 people through its 13 stations and 81 boats daily . organisation structure edit the director is the head of the department who reports to the ministry of transport in the state . during formation the service operation was only in the districts of alappuzha kottayam & kollam with the headquarters in alappuzha as its nerve centre of all the functions and activities . later the functions and activities were decentralised by establishing an office for the mechanical engineer and three regional offices in the districts of ernakulam kottayam chaganacherry and kasargode headed by three senior superintendents . now the department has thirteen stations offices as given below . alappuzha kottayam kollam edathua pulinkunnu nedumudy muhamma vaikom panavally thrikkarippur changanassery kavalam ernakulam the controlling officers of these stations are station masters . the service operation of boats are under the immediate control of the station masters of these stations . the function of the department are trifurcated into three wings management under the control of administrative assistant operation under the traffic superintendent repair & maintenance under the mechanical engineer fleet edit of late the department was using only conventional type wooden well seasoned teak wood passenger boats for transporting passengers . now the department has switched over to the use of modern fibreglass steel passenger boats . boat capacity 50 to 150 passengers wooden boats speed of operation 10 to 15 km per hour boat size length 20 to 35 m width 3 to 4.5 m depth 2 m empty weight 5 to 15 tonns crew per boat 5 max . schedule edit please visit official site of kerala state water transport department for detailed schedule route fare and other queries . tourism initiative edit realising the tourism potential of kerala the department is attempting to garner worldwide attention mainly of tourists . the new website swtd.gov.in offer details of the service trips which are fast becoming popular among tourists as one of the most affordable modes to enjoy the beauty of the scenic kerala backwaters . 2 the website is expected to help tourists in a major way and thus make the department more popular among them . it has interesting links one of which is 1 giving details of every trip of the department with the starting time . a brief description of the sights one can behold en route has been provided . for instance the 29 km alappuzha edathua trip which costs a mere rs .10 covers some major landmarks the finishing point of the internationally acclaimed nehru trophy boat race chavara bhavan and ancient temples and lamp posts apart from lush paddy fields . under the tourism head the site offers useful information on the popular kollam alappuzha tourist boat service with tariffs and other operational details . see kuttanadu passenger cum tourist service is another service offered by the department . external sources edit kerala government site references edit http swtd.gov.in index.php option com content & task view & id 28 & itemid 27 http www.thehindu.com news states kerala article2624610.ece v t e state of kerala capital thiruvananthapuram symbols bird great hornbill animal indian elephant tree coconut flower golden shower fish karimeen topics arts culture demographics economy education film geography roads ports history flora and fauna government tourism sports districts thiruvananthapuram kl 01 kollam kl 02 pathanamthitta kl 03 alappuzha kl 04 kottayam kl 05 idukki kl 06 ernakulam kl 07 thrissur kl 08 palakkad kl 09 malappuram kl 10 kozhikode kl 11 wayanad kl 12 kannur kl 13 kasaragod kl 14 municipal corporations thiruvananthapuram kochi kozhikode kollam thrissur kannur municipalities adoor anthoor alappuzha aluva angamaly attingal chalakkudy changanacherry chavakkad chengannur cherthala chittur tattamangalam eloor guruvayoor irinjalakuda iritty kalamassery kalpetta kanhangad karunagapally kasaragod kayamkulam kodungallur koothuparamba kothamangalam kottakkal kottarakkara kottayam koyilandy kunnamkulam malappuram manjeri maradu mattannur mavelikkara muvattupuzha nedumangad neyyattinkara nilambur nileshwaram north paravoor ottappalam pala palakkad panoor paravur pathanamthitta payyannur perinthalmanna perumbavoor ponnani punalur shoranur sreekandapuram thalassery taliparamba thiruvalla thodupuzha thrikkakara thripunithura tirur vadakara vaikom varkala taluks adoor alathoor aluva ambalappuzha chalakudy changanasserry chavakkad chenganoor cherthala chittur chirayinkeezhu devikulam eranad hosdurg idukki iritty kanayannur kanjirappally kannur karthikappally karunagappalli kasaragod kattakada kochi kodungallor kollam kondotty konni kothamangalam kottarakkara kottayam koyilandy kozhencherry kozhikode kunnathur kunnathunad kuttanad mallappally mananthavadi manjeshwaram mannarkkad mavelikkara meenachil mukundapuram muvattupuzha nedumangad neyyattinkara nilambur ottappalam palakkad paravur pathanapuram pattambi peermade ponnani ranni sulthan batheri taliparamba thalappilli thalassery thamarassery thiroorangadi thiruvalla thiruvananthapuram thodupuzha thrissur thirur udumbanchola vadakara vaikom valluvanad varkala vellarikundu vythiri historical regions malabar north malabar south malabar cochin venad swarupam kingdom of quilon travancore travancore cochin portal kerala retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title kerala state water transport department & oldid 711271721 categories government departments of keralawater transport in keralatourism in kerala navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 21 march 2016 at 22 00 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit 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