A Man out of His Depth
Real estate has always been at a premium in spacestarved Mumbai. This is because the 600 sq. km city has changed little since the British turned its seven islands into a giant man-made breakwater in the mid-19th century. The city’s scarce real estate recently aroused passions when Union minister for shipping, surface transport and water resources Nitin Gadkari, in an unseemly public outburst, accused the Indian Navy of stalling development. At a January 11 function to lay the foundation stone for a new international cruise terminal, Gadkari cited the navy’s opposition to the construction of a jetty near Malabar Hill to connect to a proposed 320room luxury floating hotel on a cruise liner offshore.
Adding a dash of Mahabharat-esque churlishness, Gadkari said the navy’s opposition to the project was the reason he wouldn’t part with “an inch of land” for naval housing projects in south Mumbai. “Everyone wants to build quarters and flats on south Mumbai’s prime land. We do respect you, but you should go to the Pakistan border and do patrolling,” the minister said. Gadkari’s comments betrayed his ignorance—the Indian Coast Guard patrols the maritime boundary. Also, south Mumbai was a garrison town housing the British army and navy for over two centuries before it became India’s financial capital.
The intemperate remarks in the presence of Vice-Admiral Girish Luthra, commander-in-chief, Western Naval Command, drew much flak on social media and condem-
nation from the opposition Congress. The navy’s western fleet, its largest, is located just over the wall from the terminal the minister inaugurated. Navy personnel and their families cannot live far from their warships, which is why they are housed in south Mumbai.
Naval officials are particularly baffled at the outburst because the project proposal had been shot down by a high court-appointed committee last May. The committee, which included the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee, municipal commissioner and police commissioner, examined the proposal jointly put forth by a private developer and the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) for a 320-room luxury floatel on a 132-metre long luxury liner anchored two nautical miles off Malabar Hill. The committee cited vehicular and security concerns to deny permissions for the floatel. The 200 sq. m jetty with a 100-metre long walkway jetty that would link the floatel to the city by boats and seaplanes and which would be built at the southern tip of Marine Drive, the so-called Queen’s Necklace at Nariman Point, the committee felt, would mar the scenic view of one of India’s best seafront promenades. The navy had only suggested a security audit to ascertain the floatel’s impact on the city’s security. An appeal by the developers had been rejected by the high court just two days before Gadkari’s outburst. Clearly, a case of misdirected fury.