Efforts to
redevelop port land gain pace
At a meeting
in Delhi, the state government suggested three sites - Raigad, Ratnagiri, and
Kalyan. The Mumbai Port Trust has sought more options.
In what is
being seen as a precursor to the redevelopment of the port land, the state and
the central governments have begun discussions on relocation of Darukhana, the
shipbreaking yard on the city's eastern seafront.
At a
top-level meeting in Delhi earlier this month, the state government suggested
three sites where the century-old yard could move. However, the Mumbai Port
Trust, which controls the yard, sought more options. The sites suggested were
Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Kalyan.
The meeting
was headed by Joint Secretary, Shipping, Barun Mitra and the state government
was represented by senior Mumbai Port Trust officials and Maharashtra Maritime
Board CEO Asheesh Sharma.
The Mumbai
Port Trust, spread across 1080 acres - that's 50 Oval maidans - is the city's
last chance to save itself from crumbling under its own weight. The disastrous
consequences of having wasted the opportunity of utilising the mill land for
creating open spaces and affordable housing are already visible.
Apart from
the shipbreaking yard, Darukhana also houses a vibrant market for scrap
obtained from the ships dismantled at the yard.
Mumbai Port
Trust chairman Ravi Parmar admitted that shipbreaking is not sustainable at
Darukhana because of its proximity to residential areas and the pressure to
move it elsewhere will rise gradually.
"Shipbreaking
is a hazardous activity. But we do not allow breaking of passenger ships here.
Also, big ships are not dismantled here. They go to Alang in Gujarat.
Gradually, the number of ships coming to Darukhana has gone down," he
said.
Referring to
the meeting in Delhi, Maharashtra Maritime Board CEO Asheesh Sharma said the
sites suggested by the state government where the shipbreaking activity could
be shifted to were not acceptable to the Port Trust. "Ultimately, it is a
call that the Port Trust will have to take following discussions with its stakeholders,"
he said.
Sharma said
that the Port Trust has been directed by the Union Shipping Ministry to open
internal discussions aimed at moving the shipbreaking activities out of Mumbai.
"Whatever site they select, we will be available to help them in the
transition," he said.
While
shipbreakers don't seem to be worried about the move out of Mumbai, the
Transport and Dock Workers Union is dead against the idea. Ship breaker Abdul
Karim Jakha said the taxes are so high in Mumbai that a bulk of shipbreaking
activity has already moved to Alang. "There are 19 plots in Mumbai, but
only four or five are occupied at any given point of time," he said.
Kersi Mehta,
working president of the Transport and Dock Workers Union and a Mumbai Port
Trust trustee, said the workers' future must not be sacrificed for providing
Mumbai recreational space.
The Union
Shipping Ministry is likely to review the matter of shifting Darukhana out of
Mumbai in a fortnight.
Source: Mumbai mirror. 16 August 2015
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