Mumbai to get its water transport system in place soon?

Over the past few years, Thane and central suburbs has seen an increase in population, although the transport system has failed to keep pace with it. Hence, water transport system has been explored as an alternative to better the lives of commuters who are solely dependent on railways.

Last week, Thane MP Rajan Vichare, Kalyan MP Shrikant Shinde, TMC (Thane Municipal Corporation) commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal met union transport minister to initiate the Kalyan-Thane-Mumbai water transport route. On the said occasion, Jaiswal made a presentation of developing water transport on the said route in two phases.

In the first phase, the water transport on the routes: Kalyan-Thane, Thane-Vasai and Thane-Mira Bhayandar road will be developed. While Thane-Mumbai and Thane-Navi Mumbai routes will be developed in the second phase.

"In the past few years, there has been a tremendous increase in population in Diva, Dombivli, Kalyan, Badlapur and Ambernath region. But they are still dependent on railways for transportation and thus, commuters have to face hardships in over-crowded trains on a daily basis," said Shinde. "In such a scenario, water transport will provide quick relief to passengers and lighten the burden of railways, which is not able to expand itself due to infrastructural issues," he added.

After the presentation, Shinde said that the minister had assured them of a quick action in starting the water transportation services.