PANAJI
On the fifth day of Ganesh immersion, the Divadkars had to face a tough time in crossing to and from the island as the lone ferry which was operating along the Ribandar-Divar route was stopped due to lack of staff.
A local Agnelo Menezes informed The Goan that till afternoon time, a lone ferry operated along the Ribandar route but late that too was stopped due to lack of staff.
“The locals then had to use the ferry services along the Old Goa-Divar route but a huge queue of vehicles was witnessed on both sides thereby creating a lot of hassles to the islanders and their relatives who wanted to spend some quality family time on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi,” Menezes informed.
Another local Chillaya Sawant also informed that the Divadkars have to suffer on a daily basis due to issues with the ferries.
“Sometimes the ferries break down, sometimes the water rises above the ramp, sometimes thick fog prevents the ferries from operating and now the ferry was stopped due to lack of staff,” Sawant stated while expressing disgust over the problems faced by the locals over a period of time due to problems with the ferries.
“It is high time that a bridge is built connecting the Divar island to the mainland so that the people do not have to face such problems,” he demanded.
Another local Narayan Verlekar too expressed dismay over the situation being faced by the Divadkars and that too during a festive occasion.
“Due to the stoppage of ferry services at Ribandar, people had to wait for more than one hour just to board ferry at Old Goa. How much are we supposed to suffer?” Verlekar posed and informed that the construction of a bridge is the only solution to the regular problems faced by Divadkars.
