Gadkari erupts at Navy for blocking Malabar Hill jetty

Venting his anger over the Navy red- flagging a floating jetty project in Mumbai and stopping development, Union shipping minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday publicly rejected naval officers’ proposal to build residential flats in south Mumbai.

“The Navy is needed at the borders from where terrorists sneak in. Why does everyone ( in the Navy) want to stay in south Mumbai? They ( Navy) had come to me, asking for a plot ( of land). I will not give even an inch of land. Please don’t come to me again,” Mr Gadkari said at an event in the city in the presence of Western Naval Command chief ViceAdmiral Girish Luthra.

Mr Gadkari’s public display of displeasure comes in the backdrop of the Bombay high court refusing permission for a floating jetty at Malabar Hill — citing the Navy’s objections due to security reasons — where a floating hotel and seaplane service

The Navy is needed at the borders from where terrorists sneak in. Why does everyone ( in the Navy) want to stay in south Mumbai? They ( Navy) had come to me, asking for a plot ( of land). I will not give even an inch of land. — Nitin Gadkari, Union minister

are slated to come up.

Claiming that the Navy had stalled the floating jetty plan at Malabar Hill, despite the project virtually getting the high court’s nod, Mr Gadkari said, “Stopping such developmental work has become a habit.”

Mr Gadkari wondered aloud, “What has the Navy got to do with the Malabar Hill area, which is a private residential

zone that also has the official residences of the Maharashtra governor and chief minister. The Navy has nothing to do in the area.”

The Union minister, however, invited the Navy for talks to resolve the issue. “We are the government. The Navy and the defence ministry are not the government,” Mr Gadkari asserted.

Rejecting Naval officers’ request for land in south Mumbai, Mr Gadkari said, “Everyone wants to build quarters and flats on prime south Mumbai land. We respect the Navy, but you should go to the Pakistan border and do patrolling. A few important and senior officials can stay in Mumbai.”

He added, “Land on the eastern seafront being jointly developed by the Mumbai Port Trust and the Maharashtra government will be utilised only for the benefit of locals.”