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During
the period of Diwan, Sir.T. Madhava Rao, the state achieved
remarkable progress in the field of communication. The
length of roads gradually increased. An important landmark
in the history of Travancore was the creation of PWD,
a Road Board to advise the Government. The road from Quilon
to Cochin was nationalised in 1949.
The Alleppey-Changanassery Road was opened for traffic
in 1958. At present. there are 6 transport units in this
district. The total length of National Highway passing
through Cherthala, Ambalappuzha and Karthikappally taluks
is about 97 km. As on 1-4-1990, the total length of PWD
roads including State Highway, district roads and village
roads is about 967.84 kms.
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 There
are two railway lines in this district. The Ernakulam-Kollam
railway line was opened on 17th October, 1958 which
passes through Chengannur, Cherianad, Mavelikkara
and Kayamkulam. The Ernakulam-Alappuzha railway line
(51km) was commissioned on 16th October, 1989. It
is a landmark in the development of the district.
An interconnecting rail link with a length of 43 km
from Alappuzha to Kayamkulam was opened in 1992 and
with this the district came to the main stream of
industrial development and transport with the rest
of the State. The main railway stations in the Ernakulam
- Alappuzha route are Cherthala, Thuravur and Mararikulam
and in the Alappuzha-Kayalamkulam route are Ambalappuzha,Thakazhy,
Karuvatta, Haripad and Cheppad.
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play an important part in the transportation and communication
systems of this district. There are villages in the
district which are accessible only by inland water
transport. Vembanad lake is the main artery of the
inland navigation system. It forms the most important
part of the west coast canal system which starts from
Hosdurg in the north and ends at Thiruvananthapuram
in the south.
A
network of rivers and canals connects the places of
commercial importance like Kochi, Kottayam, Chengannur
and Changanassery. Alappuzha town is connected with
Changanassery by Alappuzhaa-Changanassery canal passing
through Kuttanad area.
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The
Wadai and commercial canals take off from Vembanad lake
and run parallel through the heart of the town. Some of
the inland canals falling in this district are Alappuzha-Ambalappuzha,
Alappuzha-Changanassery, Alappuzha commercial canal, Alappuzha-Kottayam,
Alappuzha-Wadai, Alappuzha -Thalavadi, Alappuzha-West
junction, Kakkazhaam-Kayamkulam salt shell, Muhamma -
Puchakkal canal etc. There are ferry services in almost
all the water logged areas.
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Alappuzha
port, one of the two intermediate ports on the west coast
of Kerala was the first commercial port in the princely
State of Travancore. It was established by Raja Kesavadas,
the Diwan of Travancore. Shipping operations are carried
out rarely since the starting of Cochin port. During the
period 1981 to 1991 only 5 ships have come to the port,
of which one was during 1982-83, three were during 1988-89
and one was during 1989-90. During the above said period
414 tonnes of coir products have been exported and 51808
tonnes of rice and 24517 tonnes of wheat have been imported.
There
is no Airport in the district. The nearest Airport is at
Kochi which is 64 km from Alappuzha.
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The
post, telegraph and telephone facilities that are
made available in the district are the chief means
of communication. 5 head post offices, 597 post offices.
111 telephone exchanges and 183 public call offices
are available in the district. The telephone facilities
in the district are being improved further by converting
the existing exchanges into electronic exchanges. |
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