Tourist inflow to Elephanta Island dwindles after ferry capsize

Mumbai: A day after a Navy craft rammed into a ferry killing 13 persons, there was a decline in the number of tourists taking the ferry to visit Elephanta Island, a popular tourist attraction near Mumbai coast, going by the number of ferry passengers on Thursday.

At the Gateway of India in south Mumbai, where passengers of the ill-fated ferry had boarded the vessel to visit Elephanta Island, people were still seen queuing up for tickets, but their numbers were far less than the crowd seen yesterday.

Tourists come from various parts of the country to visit the Gateway of India, and from there hop on to ferries for a short ride or to visit tourist attractions like the Elephanta Island in the Arabian Sea.

On Thursday afternoon, some tourists who were seen in the queue to get their ferry tickets to visit the iconic Elephanta caves were unaware of the Neel Kamal ferry tragedy a day earlier.

The ferry service for the Elephanta caves, which is a part of the 'Mumbai Darshan' guided tour, began at 9 am as usual, a booking supervisor of Mumbai Jal Vahatuk Sanstha told PTI at the Gateway of India.

The boat service to Alibaug and Mandwa was also operational since 6 am this morning, he said.

“There were fewer tourists than any other day, due to the ferry capsize tragedy,” he said, adding that the number of tourists, who prefer to ride boats in the Mumbai harbour, also dwindled this morning.

Ferry boats with depleted strength of passengers were seen leaving from the Gateway of India for Elephanta Island.

Kashmir Singh, who had come to the Gateway of India from adjoining Palghar district with his son and daughter-in-law, said that he knew about Wednesday’s accident and avoided to take the 30-minutes boat ride.

"I know about the incident, but such tragedies don’t happen every day," he said.

Madinaben, a tourist from Ahmedabad who enjoyed the harbour boat ride on Thursday with her two children said she was unaware about the tragedy.

"I didn't know about the tragedy, I learnt about it when I was on the boat. My daughter called and told me not to take the ride, but it was too late", she said.

Punit Chaturvedi, who had come from Delhi, said that he knew about the incident but it didn't prevent him from taking the boat ride.

"There was no question of getting scared as we were provided life jackets during the boat ride," he said.

"I was not aware about the incident and I came here to visit Elephanta caves. I tried to get the ticket with UPI payment facility, but could not do so," said a Swedish national, who was at the Gateway of India.

"The loss of lives in the ferry-craft collision is tragic but then this is life and Mumbai doesn't stop for anything," said Asif Jamadar, who had come to visit Gateway of India from Navi Mumbai.