one crying need of the fair city of Thiruvananthapuram that has been hanging fire ever since I can recollect. Calls for and moves to construct a port for the city have been going on even longer I am sure. However, nothing has materialized beyond grandiose plans and a few ambitious signboards announcing various "projects" which I often glimpse as I make an occasional trip to Kovalam. Now as the State Government is on the threshold of another attempt at building the port, let us take a look at what makes this project so significant not just to Thiruvananthapuram or Kerala, but to our whole country