Pilgrims seek ferry to Katchatheevu

CHENNAI: A group of Christian pilgrims bound for the St Antony’s Church in Katchatheevu, a Lankan island, pressed the State, Centre and the island nation to provision passenger ferry service during the annual St Antony’s Festival, to be held on March 3-4. Pilgrims led by Roy Rozario, founder of the Anglo-Indian Suburban Front, said that it was their first-ever trip to the noon-to-noon festival in the Lenten Season.Rozario expressed his gratitude to Chief Minister  J Jayalalithaa for granting approval to the pilgrims to take part in the religious fête.“I have written to the CM J Jayalalithaa, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to launch the passenger ferry service, which would be much safer and cheaper. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had responded to the letter by saying that the request had been forwarded to the External Affairs Ministry for action,” he said.Rozario added that according to the arrangements made, fishermen from India will ferry the pilgrims up to the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) off-coast of Katchatheevu and the Lankan Navy will shift them in fibre boats from there. He rued that the island did not have any basic amenities and that the pilgrims would have to do with open space to defecate and use open water bodies for bathing purposes.