Rajkot: The ferry service between Bhavnagar’s Ghogha and Dahej, which was suspended in September 2019, has been resumed. The Deendayal Port Trust (DPT) gave green signal to the service run by Angriya sea eagle limited couple of days back.
The service was suspended because of reduction in water depth. To address the issue, it has been decided that the ferry will be operated only during the high tide and only passenger services will be resumed.
The ferry service resumed three days back and the operations have been limited to one commute per day. The service is primarily aimed for the middle-class who uses bus service for transportation.
“This is not Ro Ro service, so people are not coming with cars to board the ferry. We have provided bus service connecting Bhavnagar city from Ghogha and Ankleshwar from Dahej. We are testing the waters here, if we get a good response we will start more trips,” DPT chairman S K Mehta said.
The passenger ferry service has a capacity of 130 persons. The service will prove beneficial for labourers living in Bhavnagar and working in Dahej industries. There are five pick and drop points at Bhavnagar and Dahej. The ferry ticket is priced at Rs 350 and the passengers who want to avail the bus service have to pay extra.
The Ghogha-Dahej ferry service has been facing problems since it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2017. Its operations were suspended indefinitely in September 2019 following heavy siltation in the navigation channel due to discharge of water from Sardar Sarovar dam.
The union shipping ministry took over the Ro Ro ferry project from Gujarat Maritime Board in June 2020 and in last November the Ghogha-Hazira ferry service was started by DPT. The port currently has issued the tenders to construct permanent jetty at Hazira.