KOCHI: Despite the launch of two roll-on-roll-off (Ro-Ro) vessels, there has been no end to the travel woes of Vypeen islanders. One of the two Ro-Ro vessels would often be out of service, either for the mandatory dry docking or due to technical glitches. Sethusagar-1, plying on the Vypeen-Fort Kochi route, had stopped its service around four weeks ago due to technical glitches.
According to Johny Vypeen, a member of Vypeen Janakeeya Kootayama, the authorities are not bothered about resolving the travel issues faced by the common man. “The city is expected to witness heavy rush with the commencement of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale after a gap of four years and the beginning of the Fort Kochi and Vypeen carnival festival,” said Johny. “At least 15% of road traffic towards Fort Kochi from the city could be diverted through Ro-Ro if both the vessels were operational,” he said. There is also a demand to begin the service of passenger boat Fort Queen on the route to reduce the rush, especially during the tourist season.
Moreover, the travel time from Vypeen to Fort Kochi by road is more than 45 minutes, whereas it takes less than 10 minutes through waterways. “The Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) has said that it would deploy its ferry Ro-Ro to operate service between Fort Kochi and Bolgatty. However, this will create traffic congestion at Bolgatty and the passengers heading to Vypeen will have to wait for a longer time to reach their destination,” said Francis Chammany, president of the Vypeen-Fort Kochi Passengers Association.
Meanwhile, KSINC officials said the spare parts for the Ro-Ro vessel have to come from Denmark, which has caused the delay in completing the repair work. “ We expect that the spare parts will arrive within the next couple of weeks. However, we will assign container Ro-Ro ferry Adi Sankara on the Fort Kochi-Bolgatty route,” said a KSINC official.
Kochi Mayor M Anilkumar said he will take up the issue with the finance minister to allocate the funds earmarked for the purchase of a third Ro-Ro. Adi Sankara will ply between Fort Kochi and Bolgatty from 7.45am to 4am from Monday.