The much awaited Ro Ro ship is going to arrive in Mumbai tomorrow though the service is expected to start by the end of this month or the first week of March. The Ro-Ro ship will provide service between Mumbai and Alibaug. The travelling time will be just 60 minutes which does not include the docking and undocking time. With this, the ship will save three hours time that it often takes. And the view that one will get will be much better for sure.
As per a leading tabloid, the Ro-Ro car ship can carry up to 180 cars and 500 passengers at a time. Coming to its ticket price, it is learnt that a ticket will be priced between Rs1,000 and Rs.1500 for four wheelers depending upon their size while passengers will be charged Rs.235.
This initiative will not only reduce road traffic and fuel consumption, but will also bring down pollution in the city. Reportedly, over 20 lakh passengers travel between the Gateway and Mandwa annually.
The RO-RO service was the brainchild of the Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari. He made the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) complete the infrastructure on the Mumbai side while the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) completed the work at the other end. Though the infrastructure was ready more than a year ago, the project was stuck in some legal issues. As states like Goa and Karnataka have Ro-Ro services, Gadkari wanted the service to be available in Mumbai. For this, he acquired the land from the MbPT at Ferry Wharf to create a terminal.
It is reported that the state government and the Centre spent nearly Rs 150 crores on the terminal and the breakwater in Mandwa to make water transport possible during the monsoon season.
