An expert team from the Kochi Water Metro Project after conducting a feasibility study for a water metro along the Tapi River said that there is a possibility of setting up water metro services in Surat. Once the project gets functional, Surat will be the first area in the state and second across the country to have a water metro, after Kochi in Kerala.
A two-member expert team from Kochi, including coastal engineering expert Nishanth K and transport engineer Arjun Krishna arrived in Surat on Friday following an invitation from the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) to check the feasibility of a water metro project along the Tapi river in Surat city.
The Kochi team members during their visit were accompanied by SMC additional city engineer D C Bhagwakar, technical team experts and personnel from the fire department. The officials were ferried in a boat along the causeway at Singhanpore to Valak Patia near Kamrej, a stretch of 22 km in Tapi river. The team members also surveyed the upstream water from the causeway to Dumas which is around 11 km.
Providing details of the visit, coastal engineering expert Nishanth said, “There is a possibility of developing the water metro along Tapi river along a stretch of 33 km. A survey of the hydrology and a water draft is required in the river”.
Talking about the hurdles, the coastal engineering expert said: “There are challenges like what will be the location, the water level, direction of river during monsoon and other seasons among other things. A detailed survey has to be done. After that we will prepare a report and hand it to the SMC authorities,” he said
He added, “The water conditions in Surat and Kochi are different. In Kochi, the metro runs on back water, while here it will run on the river. We will also collect data if more water is discharged from Ukai dam and the condition of water level in Tapi river will also be analysed”.
“We have tidal conditions in Kochi which were not found in Surat. We will also seek a data report on how will the river behave during floods,” he said.
Meanwhile, Surat Municipal Corporation additional city engineer D C Bhagwakar said, “The Kochi team left on Saturday. They have told us that they will send us an email next week to seek more details”.
“Primarily they have sought details like water carrying capacity of the river. They have also sought data of extreme and normal rainfall, heavy discharge and average discharge of water from Ukai dam into Tapi river during monsoon and other seasons, water level below bridges during monsoon and other seasons,” Bhagwakar added.
“They have also sought the waterbed survey reports and details about the shallowness and the depth of water in different areas. Once we fulfill all their data requirements, they will submit a preliminary report. Later we will go ahead with the second phase,” the SMC additional city engineer said.
“The team had also suggested that we go ahead with the Bathymetric Survey (a method for measuring the depth and mapping the underwater features of a body of water). The boat to be used in the water metro will have a capacity of 100 passengers and it will be battery operated,” he said.
“Along with SMC’s Comprehensive Mobility Plan team, we will work to set up terminal stations along both the river banks at different locations. These terminal stations will be integrated with metro rail services, BRTS, city bus for easy accessibility of the people,” he added.
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