The residents of Colaba, who have been vehemently opposing the construction of a jetty near the Gateway of India, are set to file a total of 19 RTIs seeking permission documents for the project. “Seven to eight RTIs are already filed, and the rest are in process. The RTIs will be addressed to authorities including the Maritime Board, Heritage Conservation Committee, Mumbai Traffic Police, etc, seeking approval documents and feasibility study,” said Deepaq Silan, a Colaba resident. While, the residents are also in process of filing a writ petition or an PIL opposing the jetty at Colaba.
The residents have been alleging that the Colaba jetty is planned for the VIPs with vested interest without considering local issues like traffic congestion and overcrowding, which will severely affect the residents. The road in front of the Taj Mahal palace sees slow-moving traffic every day in peak hours due to tourist vehicles as well as taxis. While the area is crowded on holidays due to tourists at the Gateway of India. The residents demand shifting the project to Princess Dock, which already has a jetty.
The Colaba jetty and terminal has been proposed at a cost of Rs 229 crore between Gateway of India and Radio Club. The fisheries and ports minister, Nilesh Rane had performed the ground-breaking ceremony for the project earlier this month. It is undertaken by Mumbai Maritime Board.
On Friday, the authorities started work for the jetty next to Gateway of India, resulting into a vehement protest by the Colaba residents. A large number of residents reached the spot seeking ‘work order’ from the labourers, who failed to produce a copy, further aggravating the protestors. Soon the police intervened to control the situation. On Saturday, after a meeting with local MLA, speaker Rahul Narvekar and minister Rane, the residents put forth their concerns and Rane ordered to stop the work until April 10.
“Minister Rane said the work would proceed slowly, but we demanded to halt the work. We are yet to see all approvals. The further decision will be taken after the next meeting on April 10. We do not oppose the project, but the jetty at Colaba will cause traffic jams and other civic issues. We demand shifting the jetty be shifted to Princess Dock,” said Rocky Lobo, a resident who was part of the group that attended the meeting with Rane on Saturday.
Another resident Laura D’souza said, “It seems the work was been carried out without the work order. The work has been stopped not because we residents demanded, but because of the absence of an official work order. The authorities will prepare the documents before the April 10 meeting,” she alleged.
BJP leader and former local corporator Makrant Narvekar, who also attended the meeting said, “We have asked the minister and authorities to provide a copy of the documents to the residents. We do not want to stop the project. It should be shifted to Princess Dock, which is not very far from the current location,” he said speaking with the FPJ on Sunday.
