Among the most polluted rivers in the country—will connect Tronica City in Ghaziabad to Sonia Vihar in Delhi. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is going to implement the project on the Yamuna, to shorten the travel time and bring it down from a whopping 3.5 hours to a doable 30 minutes.
According to a report, a pilot service is slated to start after monsoon, and the regular service will begin by this year end. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), the body responsible for looking after the initial infrastructure, has decided to set up three floating jetties and ancillary facilities for passengers to get to boarding and deboarding points. Currently, the IWAI is assessing the environmental impact of the service. Rides on the pilot stretch will operate through electricity and diesel-run vessels.
To helm this development, IWAI proposes to develop river Yamuna in a way that will boost tourism in a sustainable way. So, apart from the Yamuna Water Taxi being a major means for urban transportation that will contribute in reducing traffic congestion, it is also expected to boost tourism manifold in the city. The Yamuna Water Taxi Project will cover a total length of 16km, across five locations on the banks of river Yamuna. The locations are Fatehpur Jat, Tronica City, Jagatpur, Wazirabad, and Sonia Vihar. The project get implemented in two phases: in Phase 1, it will connect Sonia Vihar to Tronica City and in Phase 2, it will connect Wazirabad to Sonia Vihar and Tronica City to Fatehpur Jat.
There are plans to operate the vessels on multi-fuel sources to make it a more environment-friendly and sustainable mode of transport. After all, with all the climate change and pollution, thanks to the toxic emissions from our cars and buses, the water taxi (it is a boat) will be our saving grace. Let’s hope the effort by the Central government in building the terminals as well as the vessels turns out to be successful, and the ride from Delhi’s Wazirabad to Fatehpur Jat in Uttar Pradesh is a seamless experience, unlike anything experienced before.