BICHOLIM, MARCH 12
Agitations over unacceptable ferry services have spread beyond Chorao and Divar, with angry locals of Pilgao disrupting the Sarmanas-Tonca route in Bicholim on Wednesday to demand two ferries along the route.
This is the third such agitation along four ferry routes within a span of barely nine days.
It may be recalled that Pilgao Panch Indrayani Usapkar and several women from the village on Wednesday had submitted a memorandum to the deputy collector about their demands.
The delegation had also highlighted the inconvenience caused to the people plying in the area since the last several months.
On Thursday, people led by Usapkar obstructed the lone ferry along the Sarmanas-Tonca route to force authorities to press a second ferry into service.
Though River Navigation Superintendent Mascarenhas assured that their demands would be met by March-end, traffic along the route was normalized only late evening.
It may be recalled that ferry services along the Ribandar-Chorao route were stopped for about four hours on March 3, after agitating residents from Chorao demanded three ferries and better services along the route. Barely a week later, ferries along the Ribandar-Divar and Old Goa-Divar routes were stopped on March 10, after residents from the island demanded better ferry services on both routes.
