Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 15: Srinagar city is all set to witness revival of water transport in next couple of months as the test-run of a ‘Bus Boat’ procured by the J&K Tourism Development Corporation (JKTDC) through a private company was carried out today on the river Jhelum.
With a carrying capacity of 35 passengers, the Bus Boat has been procured from New Zealand and is being put to test, after it was assembled, by a Srinagar-based company. There are around 6 such boats including a rescue boat comprising the river transport fleet on the Jhelum currently lying with the JKTDC.
The start of the river transport is going to be a joint initiative by the J&K Tourism Development Corporation (JKTDC), Srinagar Smart City, and the Irrigation and Flood Control Department and is going to operate the service through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. Click here to watch video
Emran Malik of the private company named Sukhnag Enterprises Pvt Ltd said that the Bus Boat once finalized will run from Pantha Chowk to Veer in Chattabal.
“There was a need for the revival of the water transport which was used by as the only way of transport 100 years down the line; it is a better way to decongest the road,” he said.
While the final execution of the project is going to take some more time, the service, once made operational will again be operated on a trial basis for at least a year to look for the further viability and the success of the initiative and will be accordingly taken up further.
Officials of the JKTDC told Excelsior that the tenders for the PPP mode have not been floated as yet and will be done by the Srinagar Smart City once the boat is handed over to the Corporation and a decision to go ahead with it is taken.
“It is going to be a joint initiative of J&K Tourism Development Corporation (JKTDC) which is going to provide the boats, Srinagar Smart City which is going to float the tenders under PPP mode and the Irrigation and Flood Control which is going to take care of operational procedures; the initiative overall is in a final stage,” MD JKTDC Nisar Ahmad Wani told Excelsior.
He, however, cleared that running of the boat today on Jhelum was not a trial run, but the exercise was a test carried out by the company after the boat was assembled here.
He said that hopefully, the overall process will take some more time and the river transport will be made operational in the next 2 months. “Once it starts, the transport will operate under trial mode for next one year,” he added.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
