By N.U. Abdul Razzak Udayar
Travelling broadens the mind. What about taking wings from Palali to Chennai or making a carefree sea journey from Kaankesanthurai to Karaikal in Puducherry in India? Truly, a lifelong dream of Sri Lankans, particularly, the residents of the Northern and Eastern regions of Sri Lanka becomes true as the newly appointed Prime Minister of Sri Lanka has given the green light to resume the direct flights from Palali to Chennai from next month thus further strengthening the close ties between the two South Asian nations India and Sri Lanka. Aptly, the time is ripe for Sri Lanka as it badly needs the support of all the nations of the world since the economy has fallen apart creating queues throughout Sri Lanka for all essential items from fuel to medicine. The former has been the savior of the island nation as it has gone out of its way to provide huge loans, grants, and unprecedented support.
In fact, the two new projects, the resumption of the flights from Jaffna to Chennai and back, is a big window of opportunity to promote tourism in Sri Lanka, especially in the Northern and Eastern Province that were badly affected due to the 30-year-old unwanted civil war that came to an end as the Government Forces critically crushed the LTTE in 2009. The ferry service would certainly be cheaply giving the rare opportunity for the Sri Lankans to visit India for religious and other purposes. This new development would certainly help Sri Lanka increase her economic activities to regain her normal position as a developing country. Above all, the direct flight service and the smooth ferry services surely open the flood gates of opportunities for the masses of both nations, particularly the Tamil-speaking people to enhance their ties and relations while actively getting engaged in trade.
Interestingly, the Palaly Airport was redeveloped with the support of the Government of India in 2019 thus paving the way for launching the direct flight service from Palali to Chennai. There were three flights a week between these two cities. However, the services abruptly ended when the new Government came to power in the latter part of 2019. The announcement of the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickramasinghe will certainly attract thousands of Indian tourists to visit the Northern and Eastern part of Sri Lanka where historic kovils and other culturally significant places stand tall reminding the umbilical relations that has been in existence of between Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka and Tamil Naadu since time immemorial. The Minister of Aviation Mr. Nimal Sripala de Silva confirmed the news of the resumption of the flights between Palali and Chennai rightly mentioning “Resuming the flights would improve tourism and help the country in the current dollar crisis.”
Meanwhile, the much-expected ferry service from Kankesanthurai in Jaffna to Karaikal in Puducherry would also resume in a few months. The Minister of Fisheries, Douglas Devananda who had an interview with the Indian Express pointed out that the proposal for this people-to-people air connectivity and the safe sea journey got the cabinet approval for the quick implementation.
The resumption of both the flight and ferry services to India will increase the number of Indian tourists to Sri Lanka. It will play a role in connecting Tamil Nadu tourists from India with the Sri Lankan Tamil population in the North as well. This could also greatly benefit Sri Lanka which is facing a severe economic crisis.
