Soon, You'll Be Able To Travel From Delhi To Uttar Pradesh In A 'Water Taxi' On Yamuna River

Very soon, you might get to see ¡®water taxis¡¯ plying on the waters of Yamuna river! In one-of-its-kind projects, the Ministry of Shipping and Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is launching a ¡®water taxi¡¯ project with the aim to develop tourism in the NCR.

According to reports, the Central Government will spend Rs 28 crore for this project - this includes the cost of building terminals and that of vessels.

Representational Image - Rediff.com

¡°Taking a ride on the pilot stretch will take about 30-40 minutes. During pilot run we will either hire the boats engaged by the National Cadet Corps or hire from the agencies that provide such motorised boats. Once the infrastructure and jetties are ready, we will bring in vessels that run on both electricity (using battery power) and diesel,¡± an official involved in this project told Times Of India.

In the first phase, the service will be provided in the upstream portion of the Wazirabad Barrage, including three other locations - Sonia Vihar, Jagatpura and Tronica City. The ferry ride will cover the 16-kilometre stretch from Sonia Vihar in Delhi's Wazirabad to Tronica City in Ghaziabad, in about 45 minutes.

IWAI chairman Prabir Pande also said, "The Principal Committee of the National Green Tribunal gave a No Objection Certificate to the project. The land acquisition with the Uttar Pradesh and Delhi governments is in an advanced stage. It will take a few months, and after the acquisition, we will start the trial of the vessel."

Delhi has been struggling with traffic jams for as long as its residents can remember. The hope is, that through this project, the travel time will be cut short and the amount of traffic on roads will be reduced.

Representational Image - marinebharat.com

According to reports, authorities are also working on taking clearances from the concerned departments, and the Government is optimistic about the plan as they have already reached consensus on the release of more water in the river from the adjoining state. This is being done to address the problem of insufficient water in the river.

The project will be good for people, however, there will be two major concerns - the loss of biodiversity and pollution in the river. Yamuna is already polluted and we just hope that this doesn't make matters worse. Strict rules and repercussions for defaulters will have to be put in place to discourage people from dumping waste in the river, during the ride.