The MSRDC has invited bids for the development of infrastructure and operation of the water transport system.
If plans of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited (MSRDC) bear fruit, commuters from the western suburbs will be using hovercrafts or catamarans to commute to South Mumbai along the Arabian Sea in air-conditioned comfort within the next two years.
In a boost to the much deferred project of starting a passenger water transport system on the western coast of the megapolis, the MSRDC has invited bids for the development of infrastructure and operation of the water transport system.
The work will be executed on a cash contract basis instead of a public private partnership (PPP) model. The MSRDC is seeking to undertake the Rs753.44 crore work on the construction of terminal facilities for the water transport system in three packages, namely, Nariman Point and Juhu (Rs262.36 crore), Bandra and Versova (Rs239.39 crore) and Borivli and Marve (Rs251.69 crore). It has also sought expressions of interest (EOI) from passenger vessel operators for the operation of the passenger ferry services.
A senior MSRDC official told DNA that they planned to finalise the tenders and issue the work orders in July and expect the project to be operational in around two years. Once completely operational, the transport system is expected to ferry over 1.5 lakh passengers daily.
He added that the MSRDC, which was appointed as a nodal agency in 2002, was floating tenders for the project (originally conceived in the 1990s) for the fourth time after earlier attempts to get it off the ground were mired in controversies and legal issues.
The agency is also planning a similar service on the eastern waterfront.
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