KOCHI: After several delays and political drama, the Ro-Ro vessel will be pressed into service on Monday. The steering committee meeting chaired by Mayor Soumini Jain on Friday approved KSINC’s proposal to operate one vessel for eight hours daily. The meeting also decided the time schedule of the Ro-Ro vessel. “As per the decision, the service will start from morning 8 and end at 4 pm. But we have asked the KSINC to conduct the service for another four hours,” said the mayor.
However, the steering committee rejected the KSINC’s proposal to deploy jhankar service after the 8-hour service of Ro-Ro. Though the Corporation had invited Opposition leader K J Antony, KSINC, Cochin Port and Cochin Shipyard for the meeting, the KSINC officers stayed away, which also ignited tension between the Corporation and the KSINC.
The mayor also sent a letter to the KSINC MD stating that by ignoring the invitation for the meeting, the KSINC has belittled the civic body. The Port and Shipyard officials too came down on KSINC for its comments against the mooring facility on either ends of the jetty. “If the mooring facility is not an issue for operating Ro-Ro for eight hours, how will it be an issue after that time frame? They don’t have experts to operate Ro- Ro and the issue is not with the mooring,” the meeting alleged.