PANJIM: The commuters travelling on the Volvoi-Surla-Maina route on Monday cried foul complaining about the difficulties they have to face while travelling due to the lack of ferry services operated on this route.
An official of the River Navigation Department (RND) informed that due to a shortage of staff, the department is unable to press in more ferries on this route and is forced to operate a single ferry.
Herald has been informed that the department is short of 36 staff members in total and that the requisition for intake of staff has already been sent to the government.
Vignesh Shirgurkar from Vantem, a teacher who frequently travels through this route said, “Previously, two ferries were scheduled to be operated on this route, one was operating on the Volvoi-Surla route and the other one on the Surla-Maina route. But now ferry boats are diverted to the urban area since this route doesn’t see much traffic as that in an urban area and a common ferry is made operational on Volvoi-Maina-Surla route.”
“A person who otherwise would have reached his destination in five minutes now unnecessarily wastes his extra 30 minutes because he is forced to travel to the intermediate point, Maina. The operation of a common ferry is resulting in a wastage of time,” added Shirgurkar.
Shirgurkar said “The proposed bridge is pending since 2007. The distance travelled via waterway is infinitesimal compared to what a person has to travel by road taking the long route. The government should seriously think about executing this long pending project.”
