Soon a Cruise from Mumbai-Bali, Nitin Gadkari says working seriously on it

The Union Transport ministry has been working on a cruise route from Mumbai to Bali and it will be operational soon. The route will be via Kochi and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, it is learnt.

The counterpart of Indonesia is equally enthusiastic about the proposal. The Government is working on the idea very seriously, the Union minister Nitin Gadkari said.

Indians usually visit Singapore or Bangkok but avoid Bali. Now, with the facility, they can visit Bali directly on a cruise from Mumbai, it is pointed out by the minister.

Goa is hosting a meeting of Highways department officials to review the ongoing works across the country. The minister has said there that the work to widen the Mumbai-Goa highway too would be taken on a war footing and be completed by March 2019.

He informed that the work on the packages on the Mumbai-Goa highway has already begun. Tunnels are being worked out. It is a will of the government to complete the entire road by March next year, he claimed.

Nitin Gadkari has said the modified highway of this route would be among the best where motorists would enjoy throughout a scenic drive. The important expansion project had been delayed for lack of permission to cut trees, besides a number of other issues. Once functional, the drive from Goa to Mumbai will be just six-hour-long.

The minister has requested everyone, including politicians, and NGOs to assist the government in adopting a part of the highways by planting trees along them.

The minister also informed that the Goa-Mumbai waterway was now open for regular boat service. In the beginning, there were some problems for this service, which have been sorted out now, he said.

A private company, which deals in sea carriage had recently announced its service connecting Mumbai to Goa. The trial of the ship was also conducted. The service has been kept on hold due to the onset of monsoon. It will begin just anytime after two months post-monsoon, the government has informed.

The cruise service between Mumbai and Goa will become functional in September this year.

On an average Mumbai gets 80 cruise ships. The government has constructed a state-of-the-art terminal for ships.