Passenger jetty, promenade planned at Apollo Bunder

To handle passenger traffic and provide proper berthing facilities for ferries and boats, the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) is planning to develop a passenger jetty at Apollo Bunder.

Presently, these ferries, which transport people from Mumbai to towns like Mandwa in Raigad and tourist attractions like the Elephanta caves, are berthed at the Gateway of India. These vessels also take domestic and international passengers on harbour cruises.

"The current berthing facilities are not safe. The site also lacks amenities. Hence, we are planning to develop a passenger jetty next to the Radio Club in Colaba," said a senior MMB official.

There are five jetties surrounding the heritage structure, which cater to around 6,000 passengers daily. These are used for all possible sailing activities — tourism, passenger services, government's patrol boats, private yachts, etc. The plan is to have six jetties and a promenade on stilts between the Gateway of India and Radio Club.

The Rs50 crore passenger jetty and ferry terminal will allow more ferries, catamarans, launches and speedboats to be berthed. "The jetty will have facilities to berth more boats and allow easier access to passengers to get on or off the crafts," he noted.

There will be a host of facilities at the terminal, such as ticketing bays, waiting rooms, freshwater supply, power supply, telephone connections, water disposal and sewage, storage lockers, cleats, fenders, floating jetties with berthing facilities, passenger administration area, parking, first aid complex, and entrance gate complex. For the vessels operating from the new place, portable water and fuel pumps too will be installed for refilling.

The jetty project will also take the load off the Gateway of India precinct, a heritage structure, and aid its conservation.

The promenade will be 40-50-metre wide and on stilts, for which Coastal Regulatory Zone clearances will be needed from the ministry of environment and forest; these are awaited. This permission will also have to include clearance for having breakwaters so that passenger movement can be done round the year, including during choppy weather.

The MMB also plans to develop a marina in Mandwa, while the City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) is looking at constructing the facility in Belapur. These will be the second such projects in India after the Kochi International Marina in Kerala — the only operational marina here.

Marinas, which have facilities for sheltered anchoring and mooring for speedboats, luxury boats and yachts, can also serve as tourist, shopping and leisure destinations.

The MMB's eastern coast water transport project, which will have vessels with roll-on, roll-off facilities for both passengers and vehicles, will operate at three nodes — Ferry Wharf (Bhau cha Dhakka), Mandwa near Alibaug and Nerul in Navi Mumbai.

Despite being a coastal state with two major ports (the Mumbai Port Trust and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust), Maharashtra has not exploited the potential of its 720km coastline to the optimum in terms of developing facilities like marinas and captive jetties.