A dangerous ferry ride HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, DEC 16 Clyde DSouza, a marketing executive, kept asking himself, "What would happen if the ferry capsized? What would all the people do?" Clyde was amongst the hundreds of commuters that jostled for space in the dangerously packed Betim-Panjim ferry on Wednesday.
FERRY PHOTOS: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk21/3812899328/sizes/l/ http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/22/85/5e/busy-ferry-panjim.jpg http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/20386045.jpg Like many others, the young marketing executive, who was riding to Panjim from Mapusa on his two-wheeler to see a client, found himself stranded on the National Highway-17 on account of the morcha of the United Tribal Association Alliance that had gathered near the Assembly Complex gate at Porvorim. Clyde somehow reached Betim and managed to get on to the Betim-Panjim ferry that would bring him to the city. "The boat was overcrowded and people stood dangerously on the entrance ramp. At one point I felt it would capsize. It was the most scary boat ride of my life," he described. He said there were many commuters on the ferry who had to reach the airport at Dabolim. "Some of them had decided to hop on to the ferry in a vain effort to reach the city and then to the airport on time. On reaching Panjim, they were shocked to find the traffic at a standstill," he described. Businessman Gilbert Fernandes said the line of vehicles was seen up to Green Park Hotel in Guirim, near Mapusa. "I managed to reach Verem via Pilerne after which I could drive no further. After parking my car in Verem I walked up to Betim to catch the ferry," he mentioned. Gilbert too found himself taking the dangerous ferry ride. It took him nearly one hour to reach the city from Verem. The UTAA morcha that assembled near the Assembly Complex in Porvorim blocked the traffic on both sides of the river Mandovi paralysing the two national highways (NH-17 and NH-4A) completely for nearly four hours from 11.15 am onwards. Many of the internal roads leading to the city also saw traffic jams. Commuters said vehicles were lined up to Bambolim and beyond on NH-17 and up to Ribandar and beyond on NH-4A. Even after the UTAA morcha dispersed it took some time for the traffic to normalise on the both the national highways. School children also became victims of the traffic jam. Many parents staying across the river had to call the schools in the city to find out when their wards would reach home. http://oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=31219&cid=26
