This summer, you need not go all the way to go Goa for jet skiing or a banana boat ride, instead you can head straight to Juhu beach. The Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) finally started water sports at the Juhu beach from Wednesday. To beat the summer heat in style, one can opt for various joyrides – jet ski, sofa ride, banana ride and flying fish. The cost per ride is a mere Rs 200 per head.
On the first day itself, more than 150 water birds went skimming across the sea water. With soaring temperatures, the MMB expects nearly 500 sport aficionados to enjoy the joyrides in the coming days. The MMB will continue the water sports till May 25 and then restart it again only after the monsoons since the sea is choppy.
However, activists have raised concerns over the safety of riders and pollution in the sea water at Juhu beach. Civic activist Zahida Banatwala from Juhu, questioned how the MMB could start the water sports without the proper infrastructure and safety measures. "We would have welcomed the water sports activities if the water was clean here. The Juhu beach gets untreated sewage water. There is also layer of oil spills. I fear people could get skin rashes," Banatwala said.
However, MMB is confident that the water sports will be a major crowd-puller. "Many people love water sports. Keeping in mind the summer holidays, we expect around 500 people every day. We will run the rides till May 25 and then restart them after September 1," said an officer from the MMB.
The MMB officer also clarified that the water at Juhu beach is cleaned enough to run the water sports activities. The MMB has given its permission to run the water sports which are operated by Sailing Bay Water Sports Pvt Ltd.
It may be recalled that water sport activities were first started at Girgaum Chowpatty in 2000 by H2O. However, the rides were discontinued after there was a dispute between H2O and the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation.
