We all have heard about vehicles that fly on water and it has been fantasy for decades and now India will merge this fantasy with reality. A seaplane which is the amalgamation of the properties of speed and utility properties of an airplane will speed up on Indian water.
Recently amidst of COVID crucial environment, Indian government announced India's first seaplane service in Gujarat, Kevadia. This seaplane will be functioning from 31 October, the anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, with the aim of providing air connectivity from the Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad to the Statue of Unity in Kevadia.
This India's first project will be developed in Gujarat, the Kevadia terminal which will have a plinth area of 340m and will be equipped with provision of all modern amenities, including two check-in counters, one ticketing, facilitation and concessionaires counters on the land side which is likely to be built over 0.51 acres in the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd premise at the Panchmuli lake area. The Kevadia terminal is 200 kilometres away from Ahmedabad which will provide strategies support too.
To start service in July Gujarat government also had earlier signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority of India, and in mid August, an official press release stated that the frequency of the seaplane service is likely to be eight flights a day (four arrivals and four departures) with uniform tume system. The press release also informed about the ticket price which is costing around approx ₹4,800 per person.
For this sea airplane service India signed a contract with a French company that is manufacturing the seaplanes and will be using a 19-seater plane which will be able to carry 14 passengers and 5 crew members. And overall service will be operated by spicejet airlines.
But still though, the project vision has taken a path but then also now there is one hurdle.
On 19th Sept, The Wire reported Authority concerned with the project has applied for environmental clearances but the approvals were still pending before. And without any proper and uniform standard procedure and if some clause that infringe rules and regulations of ministry of environment, forest and climate change, the project will not be initiated, and according to the report of wire project will not start, works of these projects will be at pause if this project is violating the norms of Environment Impact Assessment Notification 2006. Not only this, even one activist from the Narmada district, anonymous, was quoted by Deccan Herald as saying, "Everyone who has been participating in agitations is under the police's watch. We fear that in a few days, we all will be detained."
This is not the first time, prior in past many such projects have been inaugurated like at small level Jal Hans, a commercial seaplane service based in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was launched as a pilot project on 30 December 2010 by the then Indian Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel with a capacity of 10 passengers.
Other countries which have initiated such projects are Philippines, Canada, Australia, the United States, Finland, the United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, United Arab Emirates, Italy, Maldives and Hongkong.
Important Information:
· Gujarat Chief Minister- Vijay Rupani
· Minister of Civil Aviation- Hardeep Singh Puri
· Chairman of Airports Authority of India- Arvind Singh