Finally, a speed boat service from city to Elephanta island

NAVI MUMBAI: After almost two decades, Navi Mumbaikars can use water transport again to visit a sought-after tourist destination in less than half an hour. An air-conditioned speed boat service has taken off from Retibundar, Belapur to Elephanta Island on Friday. The service is aimed at Navi Mumbaikars who want to visit the island without taking a detour from Gateway of India.
A first-of-its-kind service from Navi Mumbai, the boat will ferry around 40 passengers at a time and will take around 20 minutes to reach Elephanta. The service has been launched by Hindjal Pravasi Vahatuk Sahakari Sanstha (HPVSS), a flagship of project affected persons and will cost Rs 200 per head.
Taking four trips a day (see box), the speed boat has an open sitting space under the roof and an indoor air-conditioned cabin. The 17-km journey will cut down on time, compared to the routes from Gateway and Uran coast, which take over an hour.
“The service was delayed as we had to seek several permissions from various agencies. Now, citizens can save time and money too,” said Ravindra Patil, president of HPVSS.
“We took the speed boat today and it turned out to be quite a pleasant journey. Earlier, we used to take train from Nerul to CST then to Gateway of India by taxi, which was very expensive and time consuming,” said Ajit Koli, a Nerul resident.
Cidco had earlier facilitated landing jetty to a private agency to run hovercraft services from Sagar Vihar, Vashi, and Sarovar Vihar, Belapur, to Gateway of India in 1996. But the service was discontinued a year later.
“Next, we will seek permission to run the service between Belapur and Gateway. But it will take time, as Gateway does not have a jetty facility for such a high speed boat,” added Patil.