The closure of the ferry link between East Midnapore’s Haldia and Diamond Harbour in South 24-Parganas across the Hooghly since the start of lockdown has forced commuters for over five months to spend more time and money to travel between the two destinations.

The ferry service covers 20km in 40 minutes between Haldia’s Kukrahati jetty and Diamond Harbour.

However, if a commuter decides to travel between Haldia and Diamond Harbour by road the person has to cover 160km. The cost by road is also far higher as the ferry service charges only Rs 15 for a one-way ticket.

The ferry service that connects the two districts is run by the Diamond Harbour Municipality. Though the service was stopped after India went into lockdown mode in March in the wake of Covid-19, Cyclone Amphan dealt an additional blow to the service by damaging the jetty at Kukrahati.

The chief executive of Haldia Development Authority, Panicker Harishanker, said: “The damaged jetty has been repaired. The ferry service between Kukrahati and Raichak started recently and we expected the link between Haldia and Diamond Harbour to resume soon.”

Administrator of Diamond Harbour Municipality and SDO Sukanta Saha said: “We were waiting for Haldia authorities to repair the Kukrahati jetty...we expect to start ferry services soon.”

Arindam Samanta, a Diamond Harbour resident who works in a factory in Haldia, said he used to take the ferry every day. “Though our factory reopened after lockdown, I cannot afford to hire a car every day to office, it is too expensive. The ferry service used to cost me Rs 15 for a one-way ride. The travel to office is so costly that I am staying on rent in Haldia.”

When told about the plight of commuters like Samanta, Saha said: “If all goes well, the service will be back from September 8.”