Kochi Water Metro Would Steer Greener Future With Sustainable Mobility, Says IMO

The water metro launched by Kochi corporation has been making waves in building a sustainable blue economy and envisioning a lower carbon future. On November 14, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), an apex body under the United Nations responsible for regulating international shipping and enforcing International Maritime law, visited the Kochi Water Metro and were all praises about it.

Speaking about the visit, IMO department of partnership and projects chief Jose Mathieckal said that the purpose of their visit was to learn about the impressive achievement of Kerala in terms of the water metro, a pioneering initiative in sustainable urban water transport. He added that they want to show others across the world that it is possible to have commercial viability, environmental sustainability, and societal impact through such services.

Taking The Technology Across The World

The official visit was conducted as a part of the Green Voyage 2050, a project partnered between the Norway Government and the IMO. The project was launched to transform the shipping industry for lower carbon and a greener future. India happened to be among the few selected lead countries in the project and was chosen to conduct pilot projects related to Green Shipping. Discussing the potentials that underlie India's blue economy, officials from the Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) and IMO looked into green solutions in water transportation.

A report by the New Indian Express quoted Mathieckal saying, "We are in India to set up sustainable transportation in Assam, and we realised that Kerala initiated its journey into the same." Taking a brief deviation thereby, they decided to observe and study the engineering behind the Kochi Water Metro project. They took a trial run in the metro on the High Court to Vypin route.

Impressed by the initiative, the officials expressed their wish to see the water metro service expand to the other states of the country as well. Such a move is expected to decarbonise the maritime sector and help India meet its Paris goals.

Greener Future For Water Transportation

Kochi is one of the most densely populated districts in Kerala and was dependent on water transport as one of their primary transportation for the longest of times. The system has seen a decline in recent years with the development of public transport infrastructure and technological progress.

Bringing back the traditional transportation system in a revamped format, the KMRL introduced the Water Metro project. The project explores the idea that water transport is inherently more energy efficient than either rail or road transport and utilises this fact to reduce concerns about pollution and traffic congestion in the city.

They have identified over 15 routes connecting ten islands along a span of 78 km. Along these lines, over 78 electrically propelled hybrid ferries are employed and are expected to benefit more than 1,00,000 islanders. Managing director of KMRL, Loknath Behera, also suggested that the Metro is expected to run entirely on solar energy by the year 2024, making it even more sustainable. "The metro rail requires 20MW of energy, and we are already generating 12MW through solar plants", he added while talking about making the energy switch.

Also Read: Improving Water Connectivity! Kochi Is India's First City To Have A Water Metro