The Chorao panchayat has asked the river navigation department (RND) to deploy two traditional ferries on the Ribandar-Chorao route during peak hours, alleging traffic chaos and delays due to the Ro-Ro vessels.Responding to the demand, RND minister Subhash Phal Dessai said that if locals officially oppose the Ro-Ro, govt is willing to replace it with the older six ferries, noting that no loss would be incurred as the Ro-Ro vessels are not govt-owned. “If the people, sarpanch and MLA give us a representation saying that the Ro-Ro vessels cannot handle the load and they are not better than the earlier services, we can remove them from the route,” he said.Phal Dessai said that footfall on this route has increased by 30% since the launch and problems are arising as two-wheeler riders are crowding the ramp.The minister said that videos of the loose seats and dirty toilet onboard the Ro-Ro are being circulated to “defame” the RND. “Am I supposed to clean the toilet after every person entering? The toilets are for emergency use only. Also, bending the seats to show they are loose is an effort to malign us.”“As much as we admire the benefits of Ro-Ros, these vessels are not enough during peak hours. The Ro-Ros operate from 7am to 9pm, so we have asked the RND to provide two traditional ferries from 7am to 9am and again in the afternoon and evening,” sarpanch Ramakant Priolkar told TOI.The panchayat’s request comes after locals endured congestion during peak hours at the Chorao berth since the Ro-Ro service began last week. “Teething issues are bound to happen in the initial few weeks; however, we anticipated that the RND may have learnt from their mistakes after the failure of the hybrid solar-electric ferry, which was discontinued after a few months,” a Chorao resident said.
