Petition for building floating jetty rejected

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has dismissed a petition seeking permission to construct a floating jetty and restaurant in the Arabian Sea near Nariman Point. The court has upheld the rejection by the higher officers’ committee constituted by it.

The court also refused the developer’s contention that necessary permissions had been taken from MMRDA, Mumbai police, coast guard and headquarters of the western command of the Navy to construct the floating jetty and restaurant. The court observed that letters issued by the western naval command, coast guard and Mumbai police had been misconstrued by the developer as “no-objection”.

The court said, “The western naval command never gave permission to construct the floating jetty and hotel without first scrutinising the safety and security aspects. Even the coast guard stated in its letter that a security audit would have to be first carried out before giving permission.”

The court also said, “As per the 2015 Bombay high court order, BMC is bound to take recommendations from the higher officers’ committee set up by the high court before permitting or rejecting the construction at Marine Drive. The state government was aware of this but still, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) supported the developer in his petition. This needs to be viewed seriously by the state government.”

In May last year, the higher officers’ committee, while rejecting the proposal, had also observed that it would obstruct traffic in the Marine Drive area and that permission of the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) had not been taken by the developer.