News: SatyaGiri's waterway is set for smooth sail

(DNA 22/07/2006) Mumbai - After a two-year delay, MSRDC awards contract to Satyagiri Shipping.

For a city with limited road space and the sea forming a border for enormous lengths, it has never been clear why the sea was not used for transport.

Theories have been floated for years but finally, they seem to have hit the water. The decks have been finally cleared for passenger water transport along the west coast of Mumbai. After a two-year delay, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) finally gave the letter of award to a consortium led by Mumbai-based Satyagiri Shipping for the Rs1,100 crore project. Under this, commuters can travel between Nariman Point and Borivali in air-conditioned hovercrafts and catamarans. Time taken: 50 minutes. Time taken for the same journey by train or road: anywhere between an hour and half to three hours.

SR Srinivas, joint managing director of MSRDC, said, “We have issued a work order. After Satyagiri gives us a bank guarantee and deposits, work on the ferry terminals will start. It is still premature to talk about fare costs, but I assure you that they would be economical;

In the phase one, three terminals will be constructed at Nariman Point, Versova and Borivali, while the second phase will take in Bandra, Marve and Charkop. Juhu has been kept as an optional site.

The project will be implemented on a ‘Built-Operate-Transfer’ (BoT) basis, with a 30-year lease. However, the feasibility of this project as well as affordable fare prices lies on the concession agreement between Satyagiri and the Maharashtra government. The former wants the project to made part of the Inland Water Transport (IWT) policy so that it can avail of subsidies on fuel and reduction in import duties. “We need concessions to make it a public, eco-friendly transport system. We expect to sign the concession agreement by the end of the year and kickstart work in January 2007,” stated Nitin Joshi, chairman and managing director, Satyagiri Shipping.

All terminal buildings will have a passenger lounge, a bookshop and a cafetaria. Passenger amenities will be kept in mind and entertainment avenues will be explored to ensure that the operator earns revenue. The choice of the crafts has been solely left to the operator. They could use hovercrafts or catamarans or both.

However all crafts have to be chosen as per the International Standards of safety, comfort and size. There may be some suspension of services on heavy rainfall days during the monsoon.

“We have planned a 15 minute frequency during peak hours and 30 minutes at non-peak hours. The water is a very good and long overdue solution to the city’s traffic chaos. We can relieve quite a bit of pressure on existing transport systems. We expect to kickstart phase I of the project by 2008,” stated Joshi.