Boost to water transport around Mumbai
In a significant boost to tourism and the water-transport around Mumbai, the central government has given its nod to the marina at Princess Dock, which will have space for about 300 private yachts and touristy upgrade for Kanhoji Angre Island aka Khanderi Island.
The move is aimed at ramping up the look and ambience of the area and marketing it as a tourist hotspot.
The central government will invest Rs 50 crore in the island, 23 km away from the Gateway of India, to develop it as a place of tourist interest. The island will be equipped with recreational centres, hotels and restaurants.
Western Express Highway to get a facelift
The 25 km stretch of one of the Mumbai’s prime arterial road, the Western Express Highway between Bandra and Dahisar, is all set to get a facelift in order to make commuting easy for millions of motorists who use it every day.
Resurfacing of the 11 lakh sq metre area of the road, refurbishing the service roads to streamline traffic on the main road, reorganising traffic islands, fixing anti-crash barriers on the sides of the highway, improved lighting on the road, building more public toilets for commuters and having new charging points for electric vehicles are all part of the facelift plan.
Beautification of the open spaces and walls along the road, too, is a part of this project and tenders have already been floated for this purpose.
Women to pilot Central Railway’s first AC local
After the success of AC local on the Western Line of Suburban Mumbai, the Central Railways is also planning its first AC local service from mid-January.
The local would be piloted by women, railway officials have said. The local has arrived at the CR’s Kurla car shed and is currently being fitted with CCTVs in ladies’ compartments.
The CR’s AC rake is the fifth in the city. It had to have its height modified to enable it to run on all its corridors. The height of the previous AC locals had been a big issue as there are British-era bridges over the tracks.
Railway facility for online trade
In a city like Mumbai, where members of a household are often out during working hours, delivery of goods purchased online often becomes difficult.
To do away with this problem, the Western Railway has come up with a novel idea. It has proposed to set up micro warehouses at the station from where the commuters would be able to collect goods that they purchased online.
This idea is expected to benefit both the delivery chains as well as the customers. While the customers can collect their items at their convenience, the delivery chains won’t have to search for addresses.