MP Bishnu Pada Ray Urges Centre to Rebuild Panighat Jetty, Undertake Slipway Dredging

Tarun Karthick

Sri Vijaya Puram, 11 August 2025

Mr. Bishnu Pada Ray, Hon’ble Member of Parliament from the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, has taken up with the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways the pressing have to reconstruct the Panighat Jetty and prolong or dredge the Panighat slipway, citing extended hardships confronted by native residents and the fishing neighborhood beneath Hope Town Panchayat.

The Panighat Jetty, a colonial-era construction, collapsed in 2023 after many years with out main repairs. Until then, it supported about 10 passenger-cum-vehicle ferry journeys day by day between Port Blair and Panighat, easing stress on the Bambooflat Jetty and offering a shorter, extra reasonably priced route for residents of Hopetown, Chunnabatta, North Bay, and close by villages.

Since its collapse, commuters have been pressured to journey a substantial distance through Bambooflat, including each time and expense. The MP has urged the Ministry to right away sanction its reconstruction and, as a brief measure, direct the UT Administration to deploy pontoon services for secure passenger motion till a everlasting jetty is in place.

The present slipway at Panighat, very important for native fishermen to convey boats ashore for upkeep, turns into unusable throughout low tide. This forces fishermen to depend on expensive and bodily demanding alternate options. Mr. Bishnu Pada Ray has referred to as for an pressing technical survey and remedial motion — both by extending the slipway or dredging the realm — to make sure year-round entry.

The MP burdened that swift intervention would restore important infrastructure, improve connectivity, and shield the livelihoods of a whole bunch of households depending on fishing within the area.