You can travel from Kalyan to Vasai in 70 minutes as ferry service to start in December

Residents of Kalyan and Vasai can now cover the 47-kilometre distance between the two cities in just 70 minutes and Rs29. The Thane Municipal Commissioner on Monday announced that the first ferry from Kalyan-Thane to Vasai will be made operational by the end of December.

The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has planned to implement the Inland Water Transport (IWT) in three phases. The first phase will be from Vasai to Thane to Kalyan, the second from Thane to Mumbai, and the third phase from Thane to Navi Mumbai. The presence of the dense Ulhas river, Thane creek and coastal network offers viability for developing an inland water transport system in the Mumbai metropolitan region.

The detailed project report (DPR) for the first phase has already been submitted to the Central government, and the corporation claimed that the phase will get approval for the DPR this week.

The first phase, costing Rs600 crores, will cover a distance of over 47 kilometers and cut the travel time between its two ends from 2 hours to 70 minutes. The project is funded by the government, and TMC is likely to be the implementing agency.

A meeting of all the stakeholders of the project was held at the Urban Research Centre in Thane on Monday.

Sanjeev Jaiswal, Thane civic commissioner, said, “We have submitted the DPR for the first phase of the water transport project to the Centre. We are excepting approval for the same this week. We plan to start the first ferry ride by December this year. It will be the cheapest mode of public transport, wherein people will be charged merely Rs29 for commuting from Vasai to Kalyan, a distance of 47 km. The fare structure will increase every three years by 15 per cent.”

The first phase will have ten jetties across Vasai, Mira Bhayander, Thane and Kalyan. The corporation plans to develop three jetties at Nagla, Kolshet and Parsik first.

Since the Thane creek runs into the Arabian sea, the first phase of water transport was extended to Vasai and Mira Bhayander. This route is termed as National Waterway-53.

“This is the only water transport project which received 100 per cent funding. If the state and Centre agree, we are ready to be the implementing agency for phase 1. We plan to develop a multimodal hub in Kolshet, while a vessel manufacturing unit is contemplated at Palghar. The Goa and Chocin shipyard will consult with us regarding the vessels that can be used for water transport,” Jaiswal added.

The corporation will be spend Rs40 crore for dredging the creek. The fuel used for water transport will be environment-friendly biofuel.