In a first, state Transport dept to start water taxis on River Hooghly

Kolkata: State Transport department is soon going to introduce water taxis on River Hooghly along the lines of River Thames in London.

With the launch of water taxi services in the city, the travellers, weary of congested roads in Kolkata, will now have a faster option for visiting places like the Millennium Park in the Central Kolkata or Dakshineswar and Belur Math in the north.

It may be mentioned that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier laid much emphasis on the development of water transport and instructed the concerned department to develop a system, similar to the Thames project, so that commuters can travel to important junctions through the Hooghly. It can be said that Kolkata and Howrah are already connected by local water ferries through ghats in Fairlie, Howrah, Shibpur, Prinsep and Cossipore among others.

According to sources in the Transport department, each taxi would have a capacity to accommodate a maximum of eight passengers. A full-fledged service of water taxis is expected to begin this year. This would be the first-of-its-kind project which will further boost the tourism sector in the state. People visiting places like Belur Math, Dakshineswar from BBD Bag can avail the water taxi for a hassle-free transportation.

According to the initial plans, the water taxi service would be available on two routes. On one route, a boat would connect Millennium Park with Dakshineswar via Belur Math while the other would connect Millennium Park with Belur Math via Dakshineswar. The new routes will be created later on and more water taxis will be introduced. The service would initially start on a pilot basis between the city and Daksineswar/Belur Math. Among the eight seats, there will one motorman and a security personnel while the other six seats will be occupied by passengers. According to an estimate, each boat would cost around Rs 14 lakh. A tender has been floated already to purchase these water taxis.

"The main purpose of the project is to facilitate tourism along River Hooghly, helping people to move from one tourist spot to the other including Bagh Bazar, Belur Math, Dakshineshwar and Millennium Park," an official of the department said.