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Water Transport Plan Looks Like Taking Off A Decade After Invitation Of Global Tender

After a decade’s delay, the Rs-1300-crore water transport project on the west coast — which will connect Nariman Point and Borivli — is all set to take off following chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh’s intervention. “There has been an inordinate delay in implementing the project but, after Deshmukh’s recent review meeting, we expect it to go ahead in a timebound manner. The chief minister himself will monitor its progress on a regular basis,’’ a senior official told TOI on Thursday.
    Way back in 1998, when BJP leader Nitin Gadkari was the state public works department minister, a global tender for the water transport project was floated. But the actual tender was allotted only in 2003. It then took more than two years to obtain an environmental clearance for the project as the project involved major constructions on the shore and in the sea; all this added to the delay.

    The Satyagiri Shipping Corporation-led consortium, headed by Nitin Joshi, too, is now hopeful of obtaining an early clearance from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, headed by senior NCP leader Anil Deshmukh. “We submitted a fresh proposal to MSRDC as one of the consortium members moved out and three new ones were added. We are sure the new proposal will be cleared soon,’’ Joshi told TOI on Thursday. The dream plan includes, besides more than a dozen hovercraft with a sitting capacity of 100 each, a special marine ambulance on the Nariman Point-Borivli route. “It’s a new concept. It will help a patient reach any hospital in the suburbs from Nariman Point in 20 to 50 minutes,’’ Joshi said. There were initially five members, including Joshi’s own company, in the consortium. But one of the members dropped out and three new members joined it later. “We want complete transparency in our transactions. We, therefore, immediately informed the MSRDC on the new composition of the consortium,’’ he added.
    Joshi said Nariman Point would be connected to Borivli via Bandra, Juhu, Versova and Malad. “The total distance will be covered in 50 minutes and it will take less than 20 minutes to reach Bandra from Nariman Point. So far as fares are concerned, though we are undecided, we expect that it will be nearly Rs 50 for the distance between Nariman Point and Bandra,’’ he said.
    Joshi was hopeful that completion of the project would take less than two years after the receipt of the letter from the government and the allotment of land for the stations. “The land will be utilised for providing basic infrastructure and amenities for the passengers,’’ Joshi said.
    PWD minister and MSRDC chairman Anil Deshmukh confirmed that his government received a revised proposal from Satyagiri. “The consortium has apparently been recomposed and we are examining the financial status of the new members. Credit-rating agency Crisis has been appointed for studying the proposal,’’ Deshmukh said.