Will Mumbai and areas in its close periphery such as Thane or Navi Mumbai get water taxis and if so, then how soon?
The reality of Urban India is pretty simple: there are perhaps as many cars out there as there are people. There’s a sense of unforgiving pace with which life moves around in big cities. Cars there are many- but parking spaces are shrinking rampantly. Both population of new arrivals as that of cars is increasing. There’s also a pronounced rise in anxiety, depression as also of fuel prices and cost of living.
Not a day goes by when there’s no traffic jam. Now imagine Mumbai for a second in the context of the above and you could say, such situations only worsen or heighten in their impact. There’s always this ‘more’ to the city of Mumbai and perhaps it’s not for nothing that that a famous piece of literature based on the city calls the destination ‘Maximum city!’
But if there’s something that the city- that has all sorts of luxury cars, varied forms of mass transport and even the famous metro rail- does not have then its water taxis.
Yes, water taxis in Mumbai. Can this be a reality sometime soon? And if so, then who is going to implement a very doable concept- with the need for water taxis in Mumbai, given the maddening rush and the everyday ordeal sans any answers here is becoming tough to cope with?
First things first, let’s rewind our attention to 2020. Last year, a roll-on and roll-off cum passenger service was implemented between Mumbai and Mandwa (near Alibaug).
But then we didn’t hear a great deal about it in the times that followed.
Now, it is believed that the concept of water taxis in Mumbai could soon be a reality as the city’s authorities are trying to boost the public transportation system.
For starters the water taxis in Mumbai could soon be called RoPax. It can handle well over a lakh of passengers, where reports stand.
And the real good news for the denizens of Mumbai who perhaps spend as much time navigating tight traffic as they spend behind screens of laptops or smartphones is this:
The water taxis in Mumbai could soon become operational from the month of May, 2021. But it is only by the end of the year that the said concept can be executed on multiple routes- such as Nerul, Mora, Rewas to quote some.
Here is what the Port, Shipping and Waterways minister told the Press Trust Of India concerning the developing story:
After successful operation of Mandawa RoPax service that reduced the journey time between Mumbai and Mandawa from three hours to 45 minutes, we are going to operate RoPax service on four more routes by December 2021.
Surely, the time to have water taxis in Mumbai is here and now. Never before has the need to take the stress off from conventional modes of moving about (trains, metro, buses) been as real as now.
What do you reckon?