Bhuj

Till the later half part of last century, traveling between Kutch from Saurashtra was possible only through coastal route. There was no land route available to travel between Kutch and Saurashtra. Boat services were in operation to connect both regions.

Road travel between Kutch and Saurashtra became possible only after Surajbari bridge was constructed. The bridge even today is the only connection between two regions, and there’s no more coastal connectivity available anymore.

However, it is learnt that in next two-three months, the option of coastal connectivity between Kutch and Saurasthra will be available again. Traveling between Kutch and Saurashtra will be possible again through coastal route.

Kutch Sagar Setu will start its first ferry boat service in next couple of months between Okha Port and Mandvi. The distance between two places is 24 nautical miles(43 km). It will take 1.15 hour to travel between two places. If one wants to travel between these two places by road, it takes 10-12 hours.

The boat will leave Okha at 7.00 am and reach Mandvi at 8.15 am. It will leave Mandvi at 8.30 am and reach Okha at 9.45 am in return journey. The evening trip will be operated at 4.15 pm from Okha and 5.45 pm from Mandvi. The service will be operated by private operators with support of Gujarat Tourism, Gujarat Maritime Board and Shipping Corporation of India.

The boat will have 220 seating capacity including 50 non AC, 100 AC and 50 first class AC seats. One side fare could be Rs 500, 700 and 900 for these three classes. Online ticket booking is likely to kick off from 1st December.

In the past, a similar service between Mundra and Jamnagar was started but the initiative couldn’t get success due to number of technical reasons.

– DeshGujarat