Water transport plans caught in a whirlpool

MUMBAI: To be or not to be? MoreHamletian than Hamlet. That''s the fate of inland water transport in the city.Mumbai has been flirting with the idea of having a water transportfor years but has never got down to having one, except in fits and starts.With a coastline of over 34 km, it has all the reason to befuriously working the oars. But so far, water transport has been limited tointer-city—between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai—rather than intra-city.And what''s more, that exercise too has had to be aborted in its infancy.The main reason for the city''s failure to tap its coastline, saystransport expert Arun Mokashi, is the classical "chickenor-egg" dilemma, amongother things. "The government should invest in infrastructure suchas terminals and proper channels, but it won''t do that unless water transportproves to be viable. And operators won''t get into it unless some infrastructureis in place," he says. Add to this fundamental question the issue ofpassenger traffic. While road and rail traffic in the city take in 20,000 and40,000 commuters respectively during peak rush, the carrying capacity of ahovercraft or a catamaran will not be more than a few hundred, asserts P GPatankar of Tata Consultancy Services. "That won''t make a dent onthe demand," he points out. And given the linear nature of the city''s commute,the services would go unused during the off-peak hours. Costwise, too, theproject would be a damp squib. "No ferry can match the cost of a bus trip,"insists Patankar. The city may be blessed with a long stretch of thesea, but its west coast is too rocky, has very high waves and strong currents.The eastern side is calmer, more protected but entails high cost overrunsbecause of poor passenger traffic. Experts say huge rocks in thewestern sea would rip a catamaran. "These may need to be cut," says Mokashi. Thewide gulf between the high tide and low tides on the city''s coasts is anotherdampener that necessitates a large jetty. Passenger patronage toodepends on jetty services, but as of today, there is no firm commitment eitheron building terminals, or any kind of passenger facilitation."Nobody wants to get their feet wet on the way to work," points outone expert. On the east coast, there could be three potential boarding points:Gateway of India, Ferry Wharf, and Radio Club. Ferry Wharf, whichhas been identified in many expert evaluations as the best site for passengertransport, is under consideration for a hovercraft service. SaysSaroj Tahiliani, secretary of Mumbai Port Trust, "Ferry Wharf falls within ourterritory but it is outside the dock area. It has berths and jetty and isunderutilised. We are absolutely willing to give the space for a hovercraft portor whatever help the government or an operator needs." Indeed,experts say, the ball finally lands in the government''s court, which has todecide whether it wants to exploit the city''s western and eastern flanks.Periodically, authorities draw up fresh plans to take on the sea.Lately, the government has appointed the Maharashtra State RoadDevelopment Corporation as a nodal agency to see through a water transportsystem from Nariman Point to four points in the north—Bandra, Juhu,Versova, Marve and Borivli. Some bids have been shortlisted andofficials say the services should be in place only after a year. But experts aresceptical since questions of environmental and financial viability remain.The hovercraft service between Navi Mumbai and Mumbai is a case inpoint. One reason why the ferry did not work was the absence of a separate jettyat the congested Gateway of India. A hovercraft, on the other hand,is an expensive proposition and ends up reflecting in the fare. "Allmass transport services like buses and trains are subsidised. Water transporttoo should be subsidised to make it financially attractive," says a hovercraftcompany official. The Navi Mumbai-Gateway ferry, priced at Rs 150,proved to be too steep for most commuters. The MSRDC, however, isoptimistic. "We expect a passenger traffic of one lakh per day, going by thewestern traffic figures of 30 lakh per day," says an MSRDC official.