VASCO
River Navigation Minister Subhash Phaldessai on Sunday said waterways transportation can be improved in the State with the adoption of the latest technology.
Phaldessai was speaking to reporters at Goa airport after returning from a visit to Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) along with MLAs Jit Arolkar and Premendra Shet.
"We visited CSL to bring about innovative ideas in the ferry system and see how to get fast ferries that can take a good load. We also want to have new passenger ferries to boost tourism activities and wanted to see how we can adopt new technology and carry out a study to adopt these technologies in the State."
"We will soon produce the report to the State government and then it can decide to ensure that we can utilise our waterways to the maximum. We want to give the best service to our passengers and also to the tourists to bring about a new scope of tourism. We visited CSL because it is one of India's largest shipbuilding yards with centres for research, training and development," said Phaldessai.
MLA Premendra Shet said that the busiest ferry route was in his Mayem constituency.
"We want the latest technology ferry boat to be put in service in our constituency, and I had placed this proposal in the assembly. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and RND Minister Subhash Phaldessai assured to support my request for the latest technology for the Ro-Ro ferry in the area. We visited CSL, discussed with their chairman and witnessed the entire system of Ro-Ro ferries. We will now place this proposal before the State government," said Shet.
MLA Jeet Arolkar said that he was impressed with the Ro-Ro ferry technology that was being developed at CSL.
"We have seen that state-of-the-art Ro-Ro ferries are available at CSL and if these ferries are out to service in Goa, it can help locals and also boost tourism activities to a great extent. We have old ferries in service and they can be replaced by these Ro-Ro ferries to speed up the connectivity and increase passenger load, and this is a great initiative by the RND Minister. We have also seen metro boats which are like the metro trains. If these technologies are adopted, it can boost tourism activities and also help locals in their daily commute," said Arolkar.
