GKARSTEN MIRANDA
etting stuck in traffic appears to have become a daily affair for most Goans but few have had to face the kind of hardships residents of Divar have been dealing with off late.
Imagine being stuck for an hour and a half, just waiting to get on to a ferry with vehicles surrounding you on all sides.
This is the ordeal residents of Divar faced just a few days ago, at a time when the State was celebrating the festive season. Heavy rainfall only added to the chaos and frustration.
Tomas Rodrigues, a heritage enthusiast from Divar laments that this is not just a one-off incident but something that happened quite often in recent times. Given that the jetty at Old Goa has been closed for repairs, residents of the two villages of Divar are only left with the ferry route to Ribandar jetty to get to Panjim and surrounding areas. There is another ferry to Bicholim but 90% of the population take the route to Ribandar. And now with the Ribandar causeway shut for repairs, the serpentine queues have only grown longer and the traffic jams have become unbearable.
“These days you also have a lot of yellow number plate vehicles plying on the ferries and so while the volume of visitors has increased, the basic facilities are limited. Look at the size of the ramps for instance, there has been a long-pending need to increase their size, which would give more space to get on and get off the ferry,” Rodrigues added.
Locals also pointed out that while the Old Goa ramp is presently closed for repairs until mid-December, they could not access the Ribandar ramp for a long period of time earlier this year due to maintenance and the monsoons.
Rodrigues rued the fact that the residents are left inconvenienced whenever these ramps are closed and hoped the Old Goa ramp will be open for the public as scheduled and not closed for an extended period thereafter.
“When one thinks of the island, you think of its beauty and the peaceful serenity that one associates with this place we call home. Pictures taken by the public of their ferry journey get the attention of all on social media. Sadly, our documented and frequent pleas about the bad state of the ferry services and the problems associated with it, only fall on deaf ears. This negligence by the government leaves us very angry,” said a concerned citizen.
“So many years have passed but the ferry system has not seen the kind of innovation and upgradation, we the tax-paying people deserve. Why are we still being given single-engine ferries? Why don’t we have larger-sized ferries that can accommodate more people? The volume of visitors to the island has increased and so has the number of vehicles but the size and power of the ferry is the same,” the citizen added.
While this person who grew up and resides in Divar did not want to be named, many other residents concurred with his views that the authorities are just ignoring their grievances and that only stop-gap measures are taken instead of working towards long-term solutions.
Another strong thread amongst Divarkars is that the opinions of those who reside there permanently need to be given greater weightage as opposed to those who are from Divar but live away from the island. While this may seem minor, they emphasise that this is important to them as they feel the right and true narrative that reflects their situation needs to be brought forward. For them, the ferry service is their gateway to the rest of the State and they have to make trips on a daily basis. There is no road to the village and no hospital in the village so in case of a medical emergency, they have to take the ferry to visit the nearest medical care facility or wait for an ambulance that has to use the ferry to visit their houses.
“Why is it that every time there is an issue like a breakdown, we are forced to call up the officials in-charge of the ferry service to look into the matter? Ideally, there should not be so many breakdowns or other maintenance related issues. You have to note that a lot of our public utility services are dependent on the ferries to enter Divar. There are a lot of senior citizens who use the ferry regularly too,” said social worker Agnelo Menezes, who called on the River Navigation Department (RND) to be more proactive.
He further questioned the quality of repair works on these ferries when they break down. Menezes also made a note of the climate changes that have influenced weather conditions, the water currents, how quickly it gets dark in the evenings or how the morning dew creates misty conditions that prevent ferries from moving as visibility is low.
His point was that there is a need for bigger planning where all factors are taken into consideration and an action plan is aimed at resolving these issues in a holistic manner and not by just a small peace-meal approach where one issue at a time is looked at.
Ex-panch Jerry D’Souza referred to the ongoing repair works at Old Goa and also recalled earlier repair work of ferry ramps and said the end result of such activities should not be some small improvement. He said if repairs are being undertaken, they should ensure that existing problems are addressed and there is no need to close the ramp after some time for another set of repairs.
He also expressed sadness that those people who go to the Basilica of Bom Jesus every year to attend the novenas and feast of St Francis Xavier will be inconvenienced as the Old Goa jetty is closed. He explained how they would take the ferry to Old Goa and from there proceed for the masses but now have to go via Ribandar.
Besides that, he also said the traffic police should pay attention to the kind of congestion that is seen in and around the ferry ramps during peak hours. The ferries are an essential mode of transport for locals, who use it to go to work, schools and colleges or meet people in other parts of Goa.
“I appeal to the government to keep a traffic cop at the jetty points during peak hours in the morning and evening to regulate the traffic,” Jerry added, who has highlighted various such issues in the past as well.
The locals are also annoyed with visitors who do not stick to the unwritten rules they follow on the ferries.
Rodrigues pointed out how people who are going to get on the ferry stick on one side and those who are to exit the ferries stick to the other side, to ensure there is a proper way of passage for the set of people moving in opposite directions - meaning those who are exiting and entering the ferry.
“Nowadays you will find there is no care for others. Vehicles are packed on all sides so there is a clear block when the ferry lands. How are people supposed to move? Then a ferry can only take so much capacity and we residents have an idea about how many vehicles and people can be on the ferry at one time. Now it’s packed and there are always some bumpers of vehicles touching and fights follow,” said another resident of Divar.
Finally, locals also point out that the staff of the ferry boats are tired as now there are four ferries as opposed to three usually. This has happened as the Old Goa jetty was closed and due to the regular trips, the staff do not have a break and towards the last trips of the day, they are quite fatigued as well. Locals felt their working conditions also needed to be looked at to improve the overall efficiency of the ferry services.
On a concluding note, the locals have resigned to the fact that their attempts in the past to get the authorities to act have not borne fruit and feel only if they come on the streets and protest, the way the people from Chorao Island have done in the past, will there be any real change. With elections around the corner, they feel that politicians will once again promise the sky but after the elections, the same set of issues that have haunted them for years, will repeat in the years to come too.