Pushes for central funds for Sustainable Development Goal projects
Special Correspondent
Panaji: Planning for the next five years, the Goa government has proposed some major initiatives in the transport, tourism, health, power, and education sectors, with central assistance.
The proposals include water metro for public transport, ropeway between Mormugao and Dona Paula for tourists as well as other commuters, upgrading capacities of green energy projects, water treatment plants, health facilities. Besides, Goa has also proposed cluster university, oceanarium and ‘Lord Parshuram iconic monument’ among others. All these are aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
The state government is planning Water Metro so as to fulfil the need to leverage waterways of Goa for a modern, eco-friendly transportation system.
The objective of this mode of transport is “to provide seamless connectivity, sustainable mobility, tourism enhancement, economic upliftment and traffic decongestion.”
The government in its memorandum recently presented to a visiting delegation of the 16th Finance Commission has requested a grant of Rs 800 crore for the water metro transportation project.
The cost details of the project are Rs 250 crore for fleet procurement, Rs 450 crore for related infrastructure development, Rs 50 crore for operational setup and Rs 50 crore for contingencies.
The proposed routes for the Water Metro covering North Goa and South Goa, and major tourist destinations are Panaji-Divar-Old Goa, Panaji-Chorao Island, Vasco-Margao-Cortalim, and Calangute-Baga-Candolim.
The fleet will include a minimum of 20 electric boats with a capacity of 50 to 100 passengers per boat; all boats to be of modern design with air-conditioned cabins, Wi-Fi and solar panels for auxiliary power.
Modern jetties with waiting lounges, ticket counters and parking facilities would be provided for this transport system, along with integration with road transport and cycling tracks at key jetties.
The implementation plan requires six months for a feasibility study, nine months for the preparation of a detailed project report, 18 months for infrastructure development and another six months for pilot testing and launch.
As per the memorandum, the government will explore public private partnership mode for operations and maintenance of the Water Metro. A water metro system is running well in Kerala for many years.
Incidentally, Union minister Nitin Gadkari, a few months ago, had called for new initiatives from the Goa government for drastically improving the public transport system which included water taxis and ropeway. A former top officer of NITI Ayog too had recently said that for Goa to march ahead, major decisions are needed in the field of green energy, tourism, public transport and education.
While no details are not known on cluster university proposal, oceanarium has been talked about for nearly two decades. Similarly, some projects are revivals of the ones proposed years ago such as the international convention centre at Dona Paula, thematic tourism circuit,
