Vessels jostle for space in Mandovi

NT NETWORK
Posted on 2008-09-25
PANAJI- The 'Riviera riverfront' of Mandovi river -- approximately 1-km stretch -- is fast turning into a battleground for various departments of the government as casino ships, ferries, barges and fishing trawlers jostle for space.
The traffic on Mandovi river at the 'Riviera riverfront' is heavily congested. This stretch of the river has a fishing jetty, ferry ramps on Malim-Betim side and ferries on the Panaji side. Three casinos are moored and one casino berthed (part of the time) at this segment. And to cap it all there is continuous traffic of ore-laden barges and cruise boats ferrying tourists up and down through this stretch along with crisscrossing trawlers.
The navigation and traffic congestion on Mandovi river had found its echo in the state legislative assembly. During the assembly session in March, the Ports Minister, Mr Francisco Pacheco in his reply to a calling attention motion had told the House that Captain of Ports department had received eight additional applications seeking permissions to ply vessels in the Mandovi river.
According to information, no objection certificates had been granted to M V Pride of Goa, (Goa Coastal Resorts and Recreation Pvt Ltd) and M V Arabian Sea King (Victor Hotels and Motels) to ply in the inland waters of Goa, while NoCs had been granted to Goa Coastal Resorts Pvt Ltd and Hotel Leela Ventures Ltd to lay mooring buoys for their vessels in the Mandovi river.
That time the Home Minister, Mr Ravi Naik had told the House that the government proposed to amend the Goa Public Gambling Act to prevent offshore casino vessels from plying in Mandovi river.
On the other hand, the opposition leader, Mr Manohar Parrikar in his calling attention had stated that government proposed to allow additional casinos on the Mandovi river, and had said the proposed allotment of the fisheries building on a leave-and-licence basis for transit facilities of duly licensed casinos would create serious problems in the city and had demanded that the government should not renew the licence of M V Caravela.
But sources say the number of casinos may rise soon. Licences for casinos are granted by the home department, while licences for berthing, mooring and plying are granted by the Captain of Ports department.
This traffic congestion is putting a spoke into trawler owners’ wheels. They are agitated by obstruction of the navigation channel. Recently, members of the Mandovi Fishermen Marketing Co-operative Society Ltd, who operate from the Malim jetty, presented a memorandum to the Fisheries Minister, the fisheries director and Captain of Ports pointing out that among other issues the obstruction of the navigation channel in the Mandovi river between Panaji and Betim should be handled on priority basis.
The Society wanted only a limited number of cruise and casino boats in the particular navigational channel. It sought cancellation of licences of other vessels and threatened to anchor the trawlers in the middle of the river if their demands were not met.
But these are the big guys. The government should take into consideration the small boats as well as the fishermen making their living on the banks of the river.
Incidents that have taken place in the last two days also show that the load will only increase and will remain a potential source of conflict. This time it is the river navigation under the scanner.
On Wednesday, a group of people under the banner of Betim Nagrik Samiti barged into the captain of ports office demanding two ferries ply continuously and also complained about the staff alleging that that they were not plying the ferries regularly. They also wanted that the ferries should be only for passengers and not for vehicles.
Once that is done it would mean a continuous movement of ferry to and fro.
And this will probably happen as ferries were not plying as their condition was poor and the department was looking for people to repair them. But the Captain of Ports said that four quotations for the tenders for the repairs of ferries had been received and were under scrutiny. After scrutiny they will be sent to the government.