Mumbai: The residents of Colaba got an upper hand in their protest against the construction of a jetty near Gateway of India, as the Stop Work is set to continue. The Ports and Fisheries Minister Nitesh Rane, who heads the Maritime Board had ordered to halt the work until April 10 as response to residents objections.
The residents had demanded to stop until their questions are satisfactory answered and had demanded as much as 27 documents including approvals, feasibility study, maps and others related to the Colaba jetty project.
Speaking with The Free Press Journal local MLA and assembly Rahul Narwekar confirmed that work will not resume until residents all questions are answered. "Work for the jetty had not started as such. The residents have been some given documents they demanded. The next meeting with Minister Rane will be scheduled soon," he said.
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Minister Nitesh Rane said, "Meeting with the Colaba residents was not scheduled on April 10. I am just back from Netherlands yesterday (Wednesday night) and meeting with the residents will be done soon. Meanwhile, they have been given the documents they asked for," Rane said.
Advocate Prerak Choudhary, who represents the Clean and Heritage Colaba Residents Association (CHCRA) said, "The meeting for April 10 was cancelled because we haven’t yet got the documents as they (Maritime Board) had promised to give during the March 29 meeting. They have given only some documents, we had demanded 27."
"We are now waiting for them to give a next date for the meeting. Needless to say, in the meanwhile, they can’t benefit from their own wrong and resume work. If they do so, we are equipped to Immediately move court for a stay," he added.
The jetty and terminal has been planned at Apollo Bunder, between the Gateway of India and Radio Club. Deputy Chief minister Ajit Pawar also sanctioned Rs 229 crore for the project last month and minister Rane also performed the ground breaking ceremony.
The residents however, have been vehemently protesting against the project citing traffic congestion, harm to the heritage area and other issues. The CHCRA has also been alleging that the approvals, feasibility study and related documents are not in public domain. They have also sent letters to Archeological department and Heritage Conservation committee questioning over their NOC for such huge project at Grade 1 heritage site.
