Forget commuting by sea

MUMBAI, June 4: Passenger transport services by sea within and out of Mumbai will be suspended during the monsoon. This is expected to put ...

MUMBAI, June 4: Passenger transport services by sea within and out of Mumbai will be suspended during the monsoon. This is expected to put pressure on the already over-utilised rail and roadways.

The Maharashtra Maritime Board MMB has set June 5, 1997 for stopping all the water transport services which include the conventional motor-boats, catamarans and hovercrafts, which have been tried out on an experimental basis for over a year now.

Presently, hovercraft services are being operated between Gateway of India and Vashi using the east coast and from Girgaon chowpatty to Juhu on the west coast of Mumbai. Catamarans are being operated between Ferry Wharf and Mandwa, Alibag and Goa by private entrepreneurs.

According to sources in the SKS Supercrafts, the company which operates hovercrafts between Gateway of India and Vashi, the operations would be suspended following the directions by the Maritime Board.

They claimed that the weather conditions across the coast are not suitable for navigation during monsoons with three meters high waves lashing at the speeding hovercrafts. The operators suggested introduction of larger capacity crafts of at least 100 passengers which are capable of withstanding waves of a height of five metres. The crafts now in use accommodate approximately 50 passengers while the SKS now operates 18-seaters.

Similarly, the motorboat services too would be closed down. In recent times this mode of transport had grown quite popular. Residents of places like Rewas, Uran and Alibag who are used to sea-travel will be forced to take a bumpy ride on the state transport buses to their hometowns across the Mumbai harbour. All these services will come to a standstill as the crafts are considered unfit for operation in high seas during monsoon. According to the Maritime Board, any depression or changes in the weather condition in other parts of the country has its impact on the Arabian sea touching the city coastline. With mainland Mumbai surrounded on both sides by water, the choppy waves and turbulent weather during monsoons deters operators from taking any risk, they added. Nearly 45,000 people in the city make use of the water transport system daily. This load will automatically shift to the road and rail sector thus worsening the already poor services schedules.

However, railway officials do not foresee any problem due to the surplus commuter load. A railway senior official stated that the load will be evenly distributed on the road and rail sector according to personal preferences.