Howrah Ghat to Kolkata: Ferry services resume

Kolkata: Much to the relief of the daily passengers, ferry services from Howrah Ghat to Kolkata resumed from Tuesday late afternoon.

It has been decided that four vessel services will be available — from Howrah to Babughat, Sobhabazar, Bagbazar and Ahritola.

On Tuesday, the Hooghly Nadi Jalapath Paribahan Samiti that operates ferry service along the route had declared stoppage of services till December 24, citing maintenance issues. The sudden closure of the service affected the daily passengers.

Soon after learning of the development, the state Transport department held a meeting with the Samiti members where the latter decided to provide four vessels so that services can commence in the Howrah–Kolkata route.

The services began from 4 pm on Tuesday and the department is hopeful that it will ease the problems of the daily commuters to a reasonable extent.

According to sources, a majority of the vessels belonging to the Samiti have become unfit which led them to the sudden stalling of the services.

“If they could have informed us earlier about their vessels’ failing fitness nest, we could have chipped in earlier and the inconvenience caused to the passengers could be avoided,” an official in the state Transport department said.

Services to Fairlie and Armenian Ghat will however be suspended though the Samiti is hopeful of starting it soon.

People from different parts of the state particularly from Howrah, Hooghly arrive at

Howrah Station by train and then use ferry services to commute to Kolkata.