Bengaluru: The Karnataka government plans to set up and operationalise a 30-km water transport project in the coastal city of Mangaluru over the next 18 months.
The project aims to alleviate road traffic, creating multiple mobility options to keep pace with the fast-growing city. The Mangaluru Water Metro Project is estimated to cost under Rs 200 crore, according to the Karnataka Maritime Board (KMB) which will spearhead it.
“We want to make it an economically sustainable project,” Jayaram Raipura, chief executive officer of KMB, told ThePrint. According to Raipura, the water metro will connect via ferries 17 stations or jetties which will arc around the city from Mangaluru airport all the way to Ullal.
The economic sustainability strategy includes capital subsidies, jetties, floating assets and at least 20 buses for last-mile connectivity to ensure that the water metro actually serves as a viable mobility option and brings in revenues to allow for future expansion.
Kochi, in neighbouring Kerala, got India’s first water metro in 2023, and although it has become a key lifeline for the port city, the project has been heavily subsidised and incurred huge losses as a result.
In 2023-24, the Kochi Water Metro incurred losses of Rs 433.49 crore as against Rs 333.71 crore in the previous fiscal, according to Kochi Metro Rail Ltd. This for a project that had a total cost of around Rs 1,130 crore.
Inaugurated in April 2023, the Kochi metro transported 19 lakh people in the first year of operations. The project connects 10 islands around Kochi through battery-operated electric hybrid boats with the city.
For the project proposed in Karnataka, the government wants to learn from the hugely successful mass transit model of Kerala, minus the financial losses.
“What we are saying is that we want 17 jetties, 10 boats and 20 buses,” Raipura explained, adding that it will allow for a comprehensive mobility solution, including the on-land feeder and last-mile connectivity services.
He also said the state wants to operationalise the Mangaluru Water Metro Project in 18 months, which will ensure that people do not resort to buying private vehicles for their daily commute.
India has been exploring options to build on its largely underutilised inland waterways network to transport cargo, reduce the stress on roads and make for most cost-effective solutions for people and goods mobility.
In January last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a 14-km water metro service in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya to further explore the potential of India’s vast inland waterways.
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Big ticket projects for coastline
Mangaluru is at the heart of Karnataka’s 320-km coastline. Although the city—and region—has one of the highest literacy rates, good human development index and other attributes, it is often referred to as the communal laboratory of the state.
The state government has tried to mould Mangaluru into a business-friendly destination to attract more investment with its ‘Beyond Bengaluru’ initiative.
It has also lined up 10 big ticket infrastructure projects along the coastline, including the Rs 3,048-crore greenfield port at Pavinakurve, Rs 3,400-crore Mangaluru international cruise and tourism port and Rs 3,433-crore multi-purpose port at Manki.
The water metro is likely to help further.
Each day, 3,000 to 5,000 people cross the Gurupura and Netravati rivers at various points and these could become the proposed water metro’s captive passengers.
Delays in completion of mass mobility projects like metro rail and suburban rail in Bengaluru have led to more people relying on private transport.
Bengaluru’s vehicular population more than doubled from 52 lakh in 2013 to 1.2 crore in 2024, with almost 8 lakh vehicles being registered last year alone.
Mangaluru has also seen a rise in registration of private vehicles, data shows, indicating the pressing need to introduce mass transit options. As a smaller city, Mangaluru does not see the need for a metro rail but hopes that the water metro will help decongest the city.
The starting point of the proposed metro would be just before the Mangaluru airport and would give air travellers a way to move to the other end of the city without hitting the road.
With nearly 13 of the 17 jettys being built through the Centre’s ‘Sagarmala’ project, the Karnataka government has to build just four more.
‘Expand to Udupi’
Karnataka’s coastline has immense potential for expansion of existing ports and converting the place into a tourism hub. The state government has planned to relax coastal regulation zone norms to facilitate the opening up of bars and shacks, serving of liquor and other entertainment options on the lines of Goa to help bring in revenue and rid the coastal region of its communal reputation.
Raipura said the aim is to make the water metro a permanent fixture in Mangaluru’s landscape and allow it to sustain itself not just as a mass transit option but also as a tourist attraction.
He added that that he has also proposed putting in a dry kitchen in the water transport ferries. “The Kochi water metro has no food service. We want to have some food like sandwiches, etc,” Raipura said.
Karnataka’s coastline also has several hidden backwater channels which the government is now exploring to include in its waterways.
The government is developing waterways on the Kali river in Karwar (Uttara Kannada), which will help cater to the growing demand of tourism in the region.
A Rs 23-crore Karnataka Maritime Museum project is also proposed and Rs 25 crore have been set aside for ecotourism with multi-modal trips on the Sharavati river.
Raipura said that in Phase-II of the water metro project, the government would explore how to better utilise the waterways in neighbouring Udupi.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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