KOCHI: The passengers of the Ro-Ro service operated by Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) on behalf of Kochi Corporation were left stranded at Kamalakadavu jetty near Fort Kochi after the ferry developed a major technical snag on Monday evening. The vessel with more than 100 passengers reached the Kamalakadavu jetty at 5pm when the technical snag occurred. Owing to this, the connection ferry from Vypeen was not able to reach the landing platform of the Jetty.
The connection ferry then went back to Vypeen jetty and after leaving passengers there it went to Kamalakadavu to tow the faulty ferry to Vypeen. “We were on the Ro-Ro ferry from Vypeen to Fort Kochi. As the other ferry was down with technical glitch, our ferry couldn’t land at the Kamalakadav jetty and returned to Vypeen jetty. Later, it was taken to Vypeen. Only one fleet conducted service thereafter,” said Jude Thomas, a passenger on the Ro-Ro ferry from Vypeen.
One of the ferries conduct services between 6 am and 8 pm and the other one between 8.30 am and 10 pm on Vypeen-Fort Kochi route everyday. Meanwhile, commuters said laxity on the part of KSINC and Kochi Corporation is affecting the Ro-Ro service. “The breakdown is the result of lack of commitment of the Kochi Corporation and KSINC. We had approached Mayor Soumini Jain several times with the demand to allocate a spare ferry to ensure timely maintenance of existing ones. But she was not convinced,” said Majnu Komath, chairman, Fort- Vypeen Janakeeya Kootayma.
“The KSINC has not been offering service for almost four hours despite having adequate number of officials to run the services,” he said.Earlier, the Ro-Ro commuters had a narrow escape after a fishing boat rammed its ramp at the Kamalakadavu jetty at Fort Kochi on November 21. The Ro-Ro service was introduced last year after a fishing boat rammed the ferry that was conducting service on the route for five years. Eleven commuters died in the mishap.