PANAJI
The River Navigation Department (RND) has tentatively set a March 20 schedule to launch the first ever Ro-Ro (roll in and roll out) ferry boats' service from the ferry wharf currently being readied by the Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL) at Ribandar.
The service will initially be operated on the Ribandar-Chorao route, according to an RND official.
The ferry wharf at Ribandar, meanwhile, is nearing completion with the final, submerged slab of the ramp left to be cast.
IPSCDL managing director and CEO, Sanjit Rodrigues, IAS, said this final slab will be cast on February 27-28.
"The jetty will be fully ready and handed over by March 7. This final slab does not require time for curing since it is the portion which remains submerged in the river," Rodrigues told The Goan.
Ro-Ro ferries will be a huge boon to the Chorao islanders. They vastly reduce sailing time as they do not need to reverse after taking off from the jetties.
Also they can accommodate more vehicles per trip which can drive into the ferries at the jetty they embark the ferry from and drive out when they reach the destination without again having to reverse.
The RND will introduce two Ro-Ro ferry boats on the Ribandar-Chorao route which otherwise requires six ferry boats to service the traffic from the Chorao island to the Panaji-Ribandar mainland.
Introduction of Ro-Ro ferries was a subject of discussion at the highest government and political levels for nearly three decades in Goa. At one stage, industrialist and former Sanvordem MLA, the late Anil Salgaocar, had officially proposed in the Goa legislative assembly that one of his his firms will operate Ro-Ro ferries on as many routes that the government was willing to privatise and authorise.
After more than a decade now, Ro-Ro ferry boats will finally be seen operating in Goa when the service begins on the Ribandar-Chorao route in mid-March if all goes as RND has planned.
