John Wilbert & Rabindranath Biswas
Port Blair, Dec 07: The commuters at Bambooflat were seen in distress today due to the move of Shipping Services to suspend vehicle ferry as well as passenger ferry Service between Bambooflat and Chatham for a short time owing to inclement weather conditions in the morning hours today.
As per report, there was chaos and confusion at the Bambooflat Jetty where a huge numberofpassengers were waiting for vehicle ferry services in the office hours. The irate passengers were protesting against the cancellation of boat service between Bambooflat and Chatham without any prior intimation.
As per details, the ferry service remained suspended from 05:30 AM and was resumed at around 09:00 AM. The trouble erupted when only the passengers were allowed to embark, while their vehicles were not permitted in the ferry boat from Bambooflat to Chatham, when the service resumed. This reportedly irked the passengers as they usually carried the vehicles with them between Bambooflat and Chatham to carry out their various types of works at the desired places.
The passengers, fuming with indignation, boarded the vehicle ferry boat with their vehicles in order to meet their requirement; while it is reportedly observed that no staff of the DSS remain stationed at the jetty whom the passengers can approach and lodge their grievance. As a result, the passengers have to often compromise with the unpleasant situations which continue to crop up now and then, they rued.
Under the given situation, the people of Bambooflat are pleading with the Administration to take up the construction of the long awaited bridge between B/flat to Chatham without further delay.
Andaman Sheekha tried to contact the officials of Directorate of Shipping Services for more details on the matter, but no officials were available for a comment.
