Planning to go for boating at Vashi mini seashore? You might have to cancel your plan as the facility has been suspended for the past two months there.
The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has opened the lake’s gate and released the water into the creek.
Boating services will resume after monsoon, a senior NMMC official said.
The civic body shuts boating facility if there is enough rainfall. It had shut the facility last year too.
Arvind Shinde, executive engineer of NMMC, said, “Navi Mumbai has received good rainfall till now. In June, we opened the gate of the lake and released water to ensure that the areas do not flood.”
“As the gate has been kept open, water enters the lake during high tide and recedes during low tide. Towards the end of monsoon when there will be water during high tide, we will shut the gate and hold the water till next monsoon. The boating facility will restart after the monsoon.”
The civic body will shut the gate in September and hold the water there for the rest of the year (till next monsoon).
According to the boat operators, there is a lot of rush at the seashore on Saturdays and Sundays. They earn up to ₹8,000 a day on weekends — around double of what they earn during weekdays.
{{/usCountry}}According to the boat operators, there is a lot of rush at the seashore on Saturdays and Sundays. They earn up to ₹8,000 a day on weekends — around double of what they earn during weekdays.
{{/usCountry}}“We are doing odd jobs to earn our livelihood. We will have to manage somehow till boating restarts” said a boat operator.
Most residents do not know that boating in shut till monsoon ends.
Lalit Pandey, 38, a resident of Nerul, said, “I had been to the mini seashore with my family for enjoying boating last Sunday. But, there was no water in the lake and the boats were lying in the dry area.”