Team Herald
PANJIM: The opposition a Party on Saturday alleged that the Bharatiya Janataaawent ahead with the purchase of the a ferry for the State despite the Captain of Ports (CoP) clearly stating that the “Solar Ferries are Uneconomical”.
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The Congress charged that with River Navigation Minister Subhash Phal Desai admitting that the “Solar Ferry Boat” procured by the government spending almost Rs four crore was “Unviable”, it was loud and clear that that all the projects initiated aby the BJP government were for “Mission Total Commission”. ais now the responsibility of a then River Navigation Minister Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’Dhavalikar and present Minister Subhash Phal Desai to refund the “commission” amount to the State treasury, demanded Congress Media Cell chairman Amarnath Panjikar.
Panjikar recalled that then Minister Dhavalikar himself had led a delegation to Kerala to inspect and study the feasibility of solara ferryboats in November 2017. The a prepared by the team had suggested that the suitability of solar ferryboat for Goan waters having higher current and turbulence need to be studied by the experts, he said.
The report had further stated that “Assistance, help and guidance of other departments and agencies related to solar energy, electrical engineering also need to be obtained before finalising the technical specifications of the solar ferryboat”, Panjikar pointed out.
“We demand that the present River Navigation Minister Subhash Phal Desai during whose tenure the said solar ferry boat was inaugurated by Union Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in October 2022 with much fanfare spending public money on event management of the function should now place in public domain all the reports which were suggested in the inspection report,” stated Panjikar.
The inspection report had also stated that “Jetties with charging facilities is required for embarking and dis-embarking of passengers at ferry points”. The report had also highlighted the challenges for solar ferryboats like narrow navigation channels, more water current as compared to Kerala waters, longer voyage time and high initial cost. Unfortunately government ignored everything, Panjikar said.
According to Congress leader, it was just a note moved on September 12, 2017 by Prasanna Karthik, then OSD to CM Manohar Parrikar, which moved the proposal for purchase of solar ferryboat in Goa.
