Speaker of the state legislative assembly Rahul Narwekar on Saturday asked fisheries & ports minister Nitesh Rane, to share with locals approvals for the proposed Colaba passenger jetty project. A meeting was held at Vidhan Bhavan during which residents were present alongside Narwekar and Rane.
A jetty and terminal has been proposed at a cost of Rs 229 crore between Gateway of India and Radio Club. Rane had performed the ground-breaking ceremony for this project earlier this month. Locals approached Narwekar, also MLA for Colaba, with concerns.
Days after Rane conducted the groundbreaking ceremony, locals had asked MLA Narwekar to ‘stay’ the project, terming the groundbreaking ceremony as “hasty”, ignoring their repeated objections. They had alleged that the jetty would have “catastrophic consequences” for the city.
At Saturday’s meeting, Narwekar said it’s important to satisfy locals on the project, and that the department concerned should share all approvals received, he added.
Former BJP corporator Makarand Narwekar said, “It was a fruitful meeting… Once documents are provided to locals, we will have another meeting in 10-12 days to understand if locals are satisfied.”
After the meeting, minister Nitesh Rane said that relevant documents would be provided to residents. “We got the nod from the heritage panel and other relevant authorities… This project will ease pressure on the Gateway jetty,” he said. Jaishree Sharma, a resident of 2nd Pasta Lane, said, “We are satisfied with instructions made by Rahul-ji in at the meeting. We are hopeful we will take our concerns seriously before proceeding with the project.”