Team Herald
PANJIM: A Betim to Panjim ferry boat carrying almost 200 passengers drifted in river Mandovi towards the bridge after an engine breakdown on Monday morning. This is not the first such incident but has been occurring at regular intervals.
According to commuters they were stranded for almost two hours before the Captain of Ports (CoP) authorities towed the boat to the CoP jetty at Panjim and passengers. Police and fire fighting officials were involved in the rescue operation with the CoP crew.
Luckily there was no four-wheeler in the ferry and two-wheelers had to be lifted from the ferry. A car would have remained stranded in the ferry.
Passengers said they noticed smoke emerging from the engine of the ferry and informed the sailor but the engine shut down quickly and the boat began to drift towards the bridge.
One of the passengers said the boat was saved from hitting a pillar of the bridge but it touched the pillar with low density. “A major tragedy was avoided today but the department has to take care while operating these services,” Nilesh Pagi a passenger said.
Raya Naik, another passenger said the government should not play with the life of the people.
Minister Sudin Dhavalikar informed the House that the boat was brought to shore with the help of a CoP boat.
