Maharashtra all set to revive water transport project

MUMBAI: The much-talked about west coast water transport project, which promises catamaran and hovercraft services from Nariman Point to Borivli, is being revived again, this time with a different model. The government will build jetties and approach roads while a private party will operate the ferry services.
Managing director of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) Bipin Shrimali said the new model was being tried to ensure the project is a success.Shrimali said the MSRDC will build jetties, passenger terminals, ticketing counters and approach roads and allow a private operator to ply the ferries. This, he said, will make the operation easier. The project was put up for bidding twice in the last seven years without any success.
“The first phase is expected to cost Rs 1,000 crore,” said Shrimali. The project will be built through the public private partnership (PPP) model. “Consultants for the project will be appointed by the end of this month and they will have to submit their reports in three months. After that, we will start the bidding process for the project,” Shrimali added.
Several attempts to implement the west coast water transport project have met with failure due to glitches in planning and execution. Previous models required the private operator to build infrastructure as well as operate the services.
The stops being talked about now are Nariman Point, Bandra, Juhu, Versova, Marve and Borivli.
The project was first mooted in 1983 by the state government. It was taken up again in 1992 when Kirloskar Consultants did a survey. Another study was done by CES, New Delhi, for City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) in 1995.