The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Lakshadweep Students' Association will jointly hold a dharna in front of the Lakshadweep Administration office on Willingdon island in Kochi on Friday, demanding that shipping services to the islands be fully restored.
In a statement, NCP State president P.C. Chacko, Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal, and Lakshadweep NCP president Abdul Muthaleeb said that though the island administration owned seven vessels, only two of them were being utilised at present for ferrying people to the islands from the mainland. If all the ships were utilised, a total of 2,300 people could be transported. Only 650 people are able to use the services now. Sick persons and students had been stranded on account of the disruption in services, they said.
They alleged that the shipping services had been cut down and money for the maintenance and repair of the vessels was not being allotted by the island administration. The NCP leaders visited the Cochin Shipyard, where the island vessels have been docked for repair, according to the statement.
