[Originally published as 'Connecting Tiswadi: A river-bus network] For centuries, the state of Goa was most easily accessed by boat. India's smallest state is located along India's West Coast, sandwiched between the Arabian Sea and the Sahyadri mountain range, a majority of the state's landmass comprises low lying swamps and floodplains of the many rivers that dissect the state. The two biggest rivers are the Mandovi and Zuari. In between them the region of Ilhas -- which translates to "Islands".
The Mandovi-Zuari basin is an estuarine water body with many natural harbours. The Kadamba dynasty saw this potential in the 10th century AD, when they set up the port of Gopakapatnam on the Northern bank of the Zuari. After the fall of the Kadambas, the territory was constantly fought over, by the Vijayanagara Empire and Bahmani Sultanate. Both viewed the region as a valuable trading port. The ports of Gopakkapattnam and Ella became important markets for the horse-trade. The Bahmani Sultanate consolidated their control over Goa in the late 14th century, and under the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur, they fortified the city of Ella and created a navigable canal through the wetlands between the Mandovi and Zuari basin. Adil Shah built two palaces in Ilhas. One still stands today -- located in the capital city of Panaji [or Panjim]. The Portuguese also arrived in Goa via the water. Despite the development of many modern transport systems and roads, the rivers acted as borders between districts of Goa -- this phenomenon is evidenced by the cultural shift that occurred "across the river". There is a distinct dialect of Konkani which can be observed in the provinces of Salcete and Ilhas -- not more than 15km between them. Rivers were often forded at key crossing points by canoes. A boatman (oddecar) would transport wares and people across the river. "The Goan once lived an amphibious existence -- he travelled by canoe, and then across dense forests and rough terrain inland ... Perhaps that is why a mere 7km ride is perceived as 'so far away' even today." -- Couto, 2004 The first ferry boat service, the "lancha", was started in 1888. These boats would not move like the canoes -- but rather sail along the riverbanks, crisscrossing at times, and connecting the islands in Ilhas, including the capital Panjim with Bardez and Salcette. These boats persisted till the late 20th century, but have since been replaced by modern ferries, flat bottomed boats that can carry a relatively large number of people, as well as cars and small trucks across the water. The Mandovi-Zuari basin has numerous islands, Divar, Chorao, St Estevam, Vanxim, and Cumbarjua are still highly dependent on these vehicles. Chorao -- an island of over 5,000 residents -- has eight landing points for these boats. The CCF team conducted an initial survey of the ferry boat landing points in the Tiswadi region of Goa. The survey mapped out 22 points that ford the river by ferry. Some of these, like the Betim-Panjim crossing, have four boats plying between the two jetties at peak hours. The research led to a critique of the existing ferry boat system. The primary issues arise with the boats themselves. Firstly they are infrastructure-heavy -- there are dedicated ramps for vehicles and people to enter the boat. They are slow -- each boat can move at a top speed of 30km/hr, additionally, they have only one entry point -- so, mid-journey, the boat will physically turn around and reverse into the landing point. Most importantly -- in a time when we are concerned about carbon emissions, these boats ferry four wheelers. The vehicles are doubly, sometimes triply, loaded in the boats, at the time of landing, chaos prevails as vehicle after vehicle has to manoeuvre and deboard before new vehicles can start boarding. In some ways, the present scenario is a reversion to the canoe system. While working on the Regional Plan for Goa in 2009-10, [Charles] Correa travelled extensively up and down the state's waterways. Soon after, in 2011, Correa pitched an idea for the need to use Goa's waterways as a conduit for mobility. Developing the static ferry boats into an interpretation of the lancha in a modern context could promote decongestion of roadways and provide affordable public transport to both tourists and locals. The overdependence on bridges to cross the river at only certain points leads to increased transit time, cost and carbon emissions. Islanders from Chorao, Divar, St. Estevam etc. are practically isolated from the city and many essential services. As explained before, the existing ferry boat system is practically the same as a bridge, the boats ply -- for the most part, along the shortest route across the channel. Inspired by the vaporetti of Venice and the water buses of Istanbul, the Tiswadi river-bus project envisions moving people, not vehicles, along, and across the channel. One suggestion that arose from initial stakeholder discussions was the utility of a boat-bus amphibious vehicle, which could take advantage of the existing ramp and ferry-stop infrastructure. PHOTO: Aerial photo of the Old Goa ferry making a 180 degree turn in the water so that the vehicles may disembark in the opposite bank. During shorter crossings like this one, the turn around takes as much time as the physical journey across the river. Goa's waterways are incredibly conducive to river transportation. While the Foundation is yet to obtain detailed bathymetric data, discussions with authorities at the Department of River Navigation in Goa has led to an understanding that the channel is deep enough for a flat bottomed boat with a low draft. The team at CCF conducted an extensive survey of the existing infrastructure that is set up for ferry boats, private boats and leisure cruises in Tiswadi. From this information, a course for PHASE-1 of the project was plotted. Lancha (a launch). Konk. lanch (us. in Goa). --Guj. lancha (us. in Damaun). -- Mal. lancha. ["Launch is a name for a boat picked up by Portuguese sailors in the East (it is probably of Malay origin), and handed on by them to Spanish sailors, from whom it was borrowed into English." -- LoganPearsall Smith, Words and Idioms (1925), p. 17. Etymology of the word "lancha" from Dalgado, S.R. 'Portuguese Vocables in Asiatic Languages' (1988) Using this information, the Charles Correa Foundation team undertook a comparative analysis, mapping and understanding the transit time between the tourist hotspot of Calangute/Baga, the capital city of Panaji, and the city of Vasco Da Gama in the south, home to the state's only airport and a busy railway station as well. The comparative studies illustrate that significant travel time can be cut by using the waterways. This is a major incentive for travellers to opt for a water-centric travel option. Additionally, since the water-buses can hold far more people/vehicle than private cars and two-wheelers, the effective number of trips will greatly reduce. This will greatly reduce carbon emissions, especially because these routes avoid the choke-points at the Mandovi bridge at Panaji, and the Zuari bridge at Cortalim (a site notorious for frequent traffic jams). PHOTO: (L) The water buses in Istanbul are an integral part of the cityscape. They move across and along the Bosphorus strait, connecting the European and Asian parts of the city Source: https://sofiaadventures.com/istanbul-travel-tips/ Charles Correa describes an approach to urban mobility in 'The New Landscape' (1985) as conceptualising a, "flexible structural plan which identifies... points of intersection and/or transfer. For instance... a bus stop where you transfer from one mode of travelling (walking) to another (vehicular)." One of the first projects that Charles Correa Foundation worked on, was a "Decongestion Model" for Panaji City back in 2011-14. This project envisioned a multimodal system for the city. (Panaji is notorious for its lack of public transport within the city.) A salient feature of the decongestion model was a consideration of the existing bus lines, and, layered on top of that, a system of hop-on-hop-off shared vehicles that would connect the buses (which presently service merely the city's fringe), to the core. PHOTO: (R) The vaporetti are equally important to the city of Venice and are a permanent fixture on images of the Grand Canal. Source: Gary Lewis via Flikr https://www.flickr.com/photos/ glewis333/26089352207/ An analysis of the existing ferry infrastructure and facilities of the stops identified under PHASE-1. [See complete table on the PDF available online] ---------------------------------------------------- FERRY POINT: Old Goa EXISTING LAND FACILITIES: No LOCAL DEMAND: High (Christians, Divar Islanders to Mainland) TOURIST DEMAND: Very High (UNESCO world heritage site of Old Goa) FERRY POINT: Divar (Piedade) EXISTING LAND FACILITIES: Small store, bus stop LOCAL DEMAND: High (Divar islanders to the mainland) TOURIST DEMAND: Medium (eco-tourism in Divar) FERRY POINT: Ribandar EXISTING LAND FACILITIES: No LOCAL DEMAND: High (Divar islanders to the mainland) TOURIST DEMAND: Low FERRY POINT: Divar (West) EXISTING LAND FACILITIES: Bungalow LOCAL DEMAND: High (Divar islanders to the mainland) TOURIST DEMAND: Medium (eco-tourism in Divar) FERRY POINT: Ribandar EXISTING LAND FACILITIES: Vendors with carts and small shrine LOCAL DEMAND: High (Chorao islanders to the mainland) TOURIST DEMAND: Low FERRY POINT: Chorao EXISTING LAND FACILITIES: Small vendors, bus stop LOCAL DEMAND: High (Chorao islanders to the mainland) TOURIST DEMAND: Medium (bird sanctuary) FERRY POINT: Panaji (St Monica) EXISTING LAND FACILITIES: Cruise terminal, vendors LOCAL DEMAND: Low/medium TOURIST DEMAND: High (river cruises) FERRY POINT: Panaji (Mandovi) EXISTING LAND FACILITIES: Vendors with carts LOCAL DEMAND: High (employed in the city/market) TOURIST DEMAND: Very high (Panaji city, Fontainhas) FERRY POINT: Betim EXISTING LAND FACILITIES: Small vending stores and places of worship LOCAL DEMAND: High (fishing jetty/employed in tourism belt) TOURIST DEMAND: Very high (fFort Aguada, Reis Magos, nightlife) FERRY POINT: Panaji (Kala Academy) EXISTING LAND FACILITIES: Art centre, cafe LOCAL DEMAND: Low (Panaji market, St Inez) TOURIST DEMAND: Medium (Kala Academy) FERRY POINT: Panaji (Dona Paula Jetty) EXISTING LAND FACILITIES: Jetty, vendors, stores LOCAL DEMAND: Medium (Taleigao residents, Goa University students, and Mormugao connection) TOURIST DEMAND: High (Dona Paula tourist site and Mormugao connection) FERRY POINT: Mormugao (Khariawadda) EXISTING LAND FACILITIES: Mormugao port, fishing jetty LOCAL DEMAND: Medium (airport, seaport and railway) TOURIST DEMAND: Very high (airport, seaport and railway) An idea that has been germinating since then, has been, to use the river as a Rapid Transit line (comparable to the metro in a bigger city, or a BRT) thereby tying together a more intricate system of public transport services. Using the water also addresses a major conundrum that has been troubling planners working in Panaji for a while. Most of the cities suburbs -- Taleigao, Dona Paula, Bambolim, Merces, St. Cruz, Old Goa -- all fall into the same administrative area, Tiswadi. These areas, together, are understood as the Panaji Urban Agglomeration (PUA). The biggest issue with the PUA is it does not "look across the river" at the four villages that make up the Porvorim region. Porvorim is incredibly important, not just as a major residential suburb, where close to 50,000 people live5 (a large number of whom, work in Panaji) but also because there are more than ten major government institutions located in this area, including the state Legislative Assembly, Secretariat and a still-under-construction High Court. Through Betim, the river-bus can finally connect Porvorim to Panaji, not just making the transit quicker for residents, but hopefully by linking the two areas together, potentially adding Porovirm to the PUA. Goa has over 255km of navigable waterways. Making optimal use of these waterways for navigation can make commuting more convenient, faster, low-cost and most importantly -- environment friendly PHOTO: An illustration where PHASE-1 of the river bus plan, has been overlayed on top of the transportation network resolved in the "Decongestion Model". PHOTO: The resultant system not only connects suburbs like Old Goa, Betim and Dona Paula to the city, but additionally, creates "points of interaction or transfer" that are identified as multi-nodal transport points in this diagram. * * * SEE THIS FULL ARTICLE, WITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS, PLUS OTHERS AT THE FOLLOWING SITE https://ccfgoa.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/2005074_newsletter_compiled.pdf This article is reproduced from the CCF (Charles Correa Foundation) Newsletter * Volume 1 * April to July 2020. All work undertaken by CCF is on a not-for-profit basis. The Charles Correa Foundation is constituted as a duly registered not-for-profit public charitable trust and has been exempted u/s 80G of the Income Tax Act. The CCF Newsletter will be distributed quarterly, issued to all our subscribers. To subscribe for future issues, please click here http://eepurl.com/dllma9 Charles Correa Foundation Education, Research & Development on Human Settlements 169, St. Sebastian Chapel Road, Fontainhas Panaji, Goa 403001 India http://www.charlescorreafoundation.org +91 832 2220058 conn...@charlescorreafoundation.org Visiting Hours: 10:00 am - 01:00 pm or by appointment. Goanet Reader is compiled and edited by Frederick Noronha (fredericknoron...@gmail.com) and interesting, Goa-related articles may be posted there for consideration.