the goan I network
PANAJI
The Goa Pradesh Youth Congress on Friday repeated its demand for a second ferry on the Panaji- Betim route, reasoning out that a lone ferry on such a crowded route was adding to all the chaos on a daily basis.
President of the Youth Congress Varad Mardolkar said that if a second ferry wasn’t made available to the public at the earliest, the party wing would go to the cabin of the superintendent of the River and Navigation Department (RND) and would sit in a dharna till the second ferry was made available.
“This is the busiest route, and even on routes with no demand there is more than one ferry,” said Mardolkar.
The Youth Congress had submitted a memorandum in this regard to the SP of the RND some time ago after a woman rider fell into the water at Betim during peak hours when the ferry was crowded. Mardolkar said that they had received a positive reply from the department some days ago saying that the recruitment process for new sailors was on, and that an exam had been conducted on February 5.
Apparently, there has been a shortage of staff in the department, and a second ferry will be put on the route as soon as more staff is recruited, he added.
