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| Commuters can soon travel like residents of Venice, the Floating City, where people cruise in boats |
Patna, Oct. 24: In less than a month, commuters travelling between the eastern and western parts of the city can get rid of traffic snarls and cruise in style. For, the tourism department is all set to start a ferry service from Digha to Patna City.
A 30-seater ferry is expected to reach the state capital by November 15. It would start commuting passengers a few days after that.
Principal secretary of the tourism department Deepak Kumar said: “We will soon start a ferry service on the Ganga. A 30-seater ferry is expected to arrive by November 15. A few days after its delivery, it will start ferrying passengers. We will acquire a few more ferries with their seating capacity varying between 25 and 200 later.”
He said: “The proposed ferry service would be between Digha and Kangana Ghat in front of Takht Sri Harmandir Sahib at Patna City, covering an approximate distance of 15km. The idea behind starting this service is to provide an option to daily commuters. The roads are often plagued with snarls and a ferry can take commuters on the other side of the river in 30 minutes or less,” he added.
Citizens are upbeat about the news. Teacher Shanti Tiwari, a resident of Rajiv Nagar near Digha, said: “The road from Rajapul to Patna City is very narrow. My school is in Patna City and I usually take this route. I waste several hours every week because of traffic jams. Since travelling on Ganga won’t throw up such issues, I believe I would be able to cut down on my commuting time.”
Sources said the proposed ferries, which would operate daily will have an open deck, an air-conditioned restaurant and other facilities.
The proposed ferry service will be operated in public-private partnership (PPP) mode. The private party will operate the ferries and charge tariff approved by the tourism department. The department, on the other hand, will provide jetties. Four or five new jetties and gangways will be constructed at a few ghats from where commuters would be able to board the ferries.
Houseboats of different sizes to allow inter-city travel are also on the tourism department radar. These houseboats would also be operated in PPP mode, sources said.
