Legislative panel slams govt for sorry state of ferry boats
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, JULY 23
A legislative panel has slammed the government for the sorry conditions of the ferry boats plying in the rivers across the state.
“The committee deplores the sorry state of affairs in the River navigation Department and recommends that the government should conduct a survey and take final decision so that the new ferry boats come into operation at the earliest,” the ad-hoc committee on River Navigation, headed by Quepem legislator Chandrakant Kavlekar said in the report which was tabled in the House today.
The committee observed that the department has a full fledged marine workshop at Betim with the required infrastructure which attends to minor and major repairs of the ferries.
“However, the number of under repair ferries are more than the ferries operating across the state waters,” the committee pointed out.
“The committee recommends to replace all the old ferry boats with new ones and to look after their maintenance and repairs from time to time,” the report says.
The committee has also desires that the government allocates sufficient funds to the River navigation department for purchasing new ferry boats and repairing the ones whose repairs are economically viable.
“The government may approach the concerned central ministry for technical expertise to ascertain whether it is economically viable to repair the 15 non-operating ferries,” it says adding “the central ministry may also be requested to provide at least 10 new ferry boats to the state of Goa.”
