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Port Trust members oppose proposed site for Vikrant

Members of the subcommittee of the Bombay Port Trust which studied the proposed location of the national maritime museum on board the decommissioned aircraft carrier Vikrant, and later resigned because of differences of opinion, maintained that they will not allow the Rs 760 million project to come up near Radio Club in south Bombay.

The members, trade unionists Dr Shanti Patel, president of the All India Port and Dock Workers Association, and S R Kulkarni, said the proposed site near Radio Club is bound to increase traffic congestion in south Bombay. Already, they say, in areas nearby, like the Gateway of India and the Hotel Taj Mahal, traffic congestion is maximum -- and the proposed maritime museum and the water transport terminal coming up near the area will add to the already existing severe traffic congestion.

Kulkarni said the BPT board of trustees, which met on October 14, appointed a sub-committee to study the site of the proposed water transport terminal and maritime museum.

Apart from Dr Patel and Kulkarni, who are also trustees of the port, other members of the sub-committee are Commodore V S Bhatnagar, chairman of the Maharashtra Maritime Board V P Pandey and Captain V S Kumar. The sub-committee, which was headed by BPT deputy chairman Rajiv Sinha, was appointed by former port trust chairman Sharad Kale.

Now Kulkarni and Patel have made it clear to BPT chairman A K Mago, that they will not allow the site to come up near the Radio Club.

Kulkarni pointed out that the subcommittee has proposed some other sites for the project, but they were not accepted by the Maharashtra government. He said the site proposed by the Indian navy and the state government -- near the Radio Club -- was not feasible. He said the grouting and the rock blasting in this process will have an environmental impact.

UNI

EARLIER REPORT:

Majestic Vikrant falls to pieces as bureaucracy dithers over its future

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