The soil sandy and unresponsive to cultivation. Fruits and vegetables are grown in microscopic quantities at the government farms (one on each island) and the rest imported from the mainland.
The only way to reach the Laccadives is by the two is by the two ships of the Shipping Corporation of India. The lager one, the Amindivi, can carry only 112 passengers. But it is a prize possession- a Rs two crore Yugoslav vessel with air conditioned cabins! of course the cabins are only used by government officials commuting to the to the islands from Calicut or Cochin; no islanders can offered even the ridiculously low subsidized rates (about Rs forty an overnight cabin berth to Kavaratti).
The Amindivi is strong enough to brave the monsoon seas while the other SCI ship, the Laccadivis, rests during that season. The ship brings vital supplies and mail and its arrival,once every week or ten days, is eagerly anticipated, one of the pleasurable events in an otherwise drab existence.
it is not only the physical isolation from the mainland that grips the Laccadive islands.
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