Pondy govt mulls passenger shipping service between Karaikal and Jaffna: Lt Governor

"We will have to get clearance from the External Affairs Ministry for the shipping service," Tamilisai said, adding that this was part of the government's efforts to promote tourism.

Puducherry:Puducherry Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said here on Tuesday that the territorial government was mulling a proposal to operate shipping services as part of promoting tourism between Karaikal and Jaffna in Sri Lanka.

Talking to reporters after flagging off an ocean sailing expedition (Samudra Naukayan) by cadets attached to the Naval wing of the National Cadet Corps from here to Karaikal, she said shipping services between Karaikal and Jaffna were available in the past and were discontinued for various reasons.

The territorial government was now considering a proposal to revive shipping services and already officials and Sri Lanka ministers had recently held discussions with the Puducherry administration in this regard.

"We will have to get clearance from the External Affairs Ministry for the shipping service," she said, adding that this was part of the government's efforts to promote tourism.

She said that the ocean sailing expedition by NCC cadets of Puducherry was part of an effort to infuse in the youth spirit of courage and capability to tide overall challenges.

She said that the expedition team had sixty cadets including twenty girls.

She said that the territorial government was ramping up facilities in hospitals to ensure that patients with complaints of dengue were taken care of without delay.

The Lt Governor appealed to the people to maintain cleanliness at homes.

The NCC cadets expedition would be for 11 days between Puducherry and Karaikal.

Officials of the NCC Directorate here were also present.

PTI