PANAJI
Goa is preparing to pitch a sprawling water metro network to the Centre, with the State government expected to meet officials in New Delhi within a week to seek support for a transport system modelled on the Kochi Water Metro.
River Navigation Department Minister Subhash Phal Dessai said the proposal would be placed before the Prime Minister’s Office and Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal after a feasibility study identified multiple inland and coastal routes across Goa as commercially and operationally viable.
The study, carried out over the past year by the Kochi Metro team, mapped eight routes covering roughly 111 kms. They include Panaji-Narve, Betim-Old Goa, Old Goa-Sarmanas, Vasco-Cortalim, Cortalim-Durbhat, Old Goa-Cumbarjua, Panaji-Dona Paula-Vasco and Panaji-Chapora.
The State is also examining a longer sea link connecting Chapora with Keri and Tiracol.
Dessai, speaking to reporters after a meeting between Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and representatives of the Kochi Metro project, further said the proposed network would require about 87 vessels.
The State is expected the project to be developed with Central assistance.
Goa’s existing ferry and river transport services currently carry between 43,000 and 45,000 passengers daily, Dessai said, adding that ridership could exceed one lakh after the launch of a water metro system.
The government has presented the project as both a public transport upgrade and a tourism initiative for the State.
