Mumbai to Get Water Transport Facilities: DPR Ordered

Mumbai, Jan 29 (PTI) The Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) has been directed to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for developing water transport facilities for Mumbai and its metropolitan region, state transport minister Pratap Sarnaik said on Wednesday.
In an informal chat with the media after a meeting, he said water taxi services are operational in several European as well as American and Gulf countries, but despite being surrounded by the sea this transport mode is largely unexplored in Mumbai and its adjoining areas.
Such transport facilities envisage extensive use of water taxis, water metro, ro-ro (roll-on, roll-off) and ferry services, an official said.
Notably, ro-ro vessels have a ramp that can roll on and off to easily load and unload cargo such as motorbikes, trucks, cars, or any other wheeled cargo.
"Mumbai is surrounded by water from all sides and neighbouring Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts also have long coastlines, creeks and deep rivers," said Sarnaik.
The minister said the maritime board chairman has been asked to prepare a DPR on developing water transport facilities for the Mumbai metropolitan region and make a presentation in two months.
He emphasised that in most cities worldwide, water transport receives as much priority as other modes of commute and that should be the case in coastal Mumbai as well.
"Water transport should be given equal importance and priority as is given to ropeways, metros and mono rail," Sarnaik said after the meeting attended by officials of his department and other state government agencies.
Along with urban development department secretary Asim Gupta, officials of MMB, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and transport department were present for the meeting.
The government should considering developing ro-ro services on a large scale with public-private partnership, Sarnaik maintained.
He further said through the urban development department, MMRDA has been asked to prepare a DPR for ropeways in Mumbai besides underground parking lots, which will also house shopping and fuelling facilities, at metro, railway and bus stations in the metropolis.
The urban development department has assured to provide necessary funds to MMRDA for survey about ropeways and underground parking lots in the Mumbai region, said the minister.
A survey for the proposed pod taxi service between Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), a business district, and suburban Kurla is currently underway and the exercise is expected to be completed by October, Sarnaik informed.
Pod taxis are fully automated vehicles designed to transport a fixed number of passengers between specified locations.
The proposed pod taxi service will connect Kurla and BKC. The project, expected to be operational by 2028-29, will be developed on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis.