Evaluation of Water Transport Sustainability and Influencing Factors in Mumbai.

Abstract: Water transport plays a vital role in the growth of the economy. It is transporting people and goods through navigable waterways on lakes, rivers, seas, oceans and canals. Sustainability is the condition of avoiding the exhaustion of natural resources to maintain an ecological balance because the fast depletion of natural resources will damage the environment and result in environmental imbalance. The MSRDC Ferry operates 21 ferry routes in Mumbai, with 27 ferry stations covering areas from the Dandi stop to the Belapur stop and from the Dandi stop to the Mandwa stop. The MSRDC Ferry route from Rewas to Bhaucha Dhakka (Ferry Wharf) is the longest line, covering over 19 km, and from Navapur to Dandi, covering 1 km, is the shortest line. This paper attempts to study water transport sustainability and the factors affecting it in Mumbai.