Waterways are finally being made used as an efficient mode of public transport. The government bodies are mulling reducing fares of water taxis connecting Mumbai with Navi Mumbai and Elephanta Caves, in the near future. The government is in the process of extending the route from Belapur in Navi Mumbai to Gateway of India which until now is going to the Domestic Cruise Terminal (DCT) at Bhaucha Dhakka. At present, the demand for these water taxis, which started in February this year, is poor.
This is what has been planned by the Mumbai Maritime Board and other Shipping authorities in the ministry. According to senior government officials, in the initial phase, they are looking at bringing down the fares to Rs 495-500 or so on the Belapur-Elephanta route which is mainly used by tourists and is preferred during weekends.
At present a trip of DCT->JNPT->Elephanta-> DCT and Belapur-> JNPT-> Elephanta-> Belapur is costing Rs 800 with travel time of 35 minutes. Sources said that gradually as and when the demand for this route and footfall will increase; shall we look at further reducing the fares to Rs 375-400 per trip. However, there is no immediate implementation of the fare reduction in tow and this is still being mulled about. To improve the demand for water taxis more ro-pax will be introduced in near future to Kashid, Rewas etc.
“We have decided to bring the water taxis to Gateway of India to attract more passengers. This however will take time; probably post-monsoon,” said a government official.
Apart from this, there are also plans of getting environment friendly water taxi boats into the system. The private operators and Mumbai Maritime Board are working on introducing solar and electric based catamarans and boats which will run as water taxis. By September-October this year, at least 2 such boats are expected to come in at a cost of Rs 2-3 crore each. Initially, they will test these boats and its functionality before introducing them for commercial use.
Cruise operators and owners explaining the difference in costs said that a slow moving diesel boat of fewer than 5 knots per hour costs them Rs 12-13 per litre of diesel. However, if a speed boat running on diesel is introduced then the cost could touch even Rs 30-35 per litre which zooms much faster on water. However, an environmentally friendly boat running on solar or electricity will cost as less as Rs 5-7 per unit which would go at 12-14 knots on average.
Likewise, even tourists are being catered to with an international cruise terminal expected to come up in Mumbai by June-July 2024. On May 14, the first Incredible India International Cruise Conference was inaugurated by Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways and AYUSH; Sarbananda Sonowal. Here, the plans were unveiled to develop cruise terminals across different port cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Goa etc in the years to come.
“Cruise tourism is among the fastest growing and vibrant sectors and it has a lot of potential to grow in India. We intend to make India a tourist hub through this and we are ready to provide the best infrastructure and technology,” said Sonowal.
Work on developing the cruise terminal is underway wherein by October this year the primary works will be ready though for Operation and Maintenance purpose; it will be ready by June-July 2024. Once ready, the new international cruise terminal in Mumbai can cater to 5000 passengers using cruise ships, it can handle 1 million passenger capacity, it can remain operational throughout the year and facilities at the berth can be availed by locals as well. By 2029, the government intends to develop 5 cruise berths in Mumbai.
How much is the fare?
*DCT and Karanja – Rs 1,200
*DCT and Belapur – Rs 1,210
*DCT and JNPT – Rs 200
*DCT and Kanoji Angre – Rs 1,500
*Central Business District (CBD), Belapur and Nerul – Rs 1,100
*JNPT and Belapur – Rs 800
*DCT-> JNPT-> Elephanta -> DCT – Rs 800
*Belapur-> JNPT-> Elephanta-> Belapur – Rs 800
Time and frequency
The water taxis will run from 8 am to 8 pm, 330 days a year, barring a few days in the monsoon season. They will depart at intervals of a couple of hours, with a higher frequency in the mornings. It will take around 30-40 minutes.
Capacity
There are a total of eight boats allocated for the passengers so far. A speed boat can accommodate 10 to 30 passengers, and a catamaran can carry 65 people. Belapur Jetty also has a parking space for 75 cars and 85 two-wheelers.
