Issue of godowns in port land will be taken up with central government: Eknath Khadse

The state government will be taking up the issue of godowns and space at Sassoon Dock, Colaba, where the Fisheries Development Corporation (FDC) had further let out space for promoting business, with the central government, said senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse in the lower house on Wednesday. The state had recently lost a case against the Mumbai Port Trust (MBT) in Supreme Court, after which business has been affected because the space cannot be used for business purposes.

Mumbai Port Trust owns the land and had leased out space to FDC on rent. That rent was revised upwards, but the FDC had objected to it. The matter went up to the Supreme Court, where FDC lost out. Since the land cannot be used, the fishing business will be drastically affected. Due to this, members of the fishing community held a protest.

"We did have a meeting with Nitin Gadkari. He was of the opinion that the money can be waived. Since the court has stated that we should be paying the money, we have to see how we can work around the issue. We will be having a meeting shortly with the minister. The government is firmly behind the fishing community's interest," said Khadse. Members of the house also demanded that the space be given to the locals. The government said it will raise that issue during the meeting too.