The latest attempt to develop a marina – a harbour to park boats and yachts – at Navi Mumbai, to cut short the travelling time to South Mumbai, seems to have taken a back seat. Sources in the government claim the proposal is likely to be scrapped due to land issues between CIDCO and Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB).
The latest attempt to develop a marina – a harbour to park boats and yachts – at Navi Mumbai, to cut short the travelling time to South Mumbai, seems to have taken a back seat. Sources in the government claim the proposal is likely to be scrapped due to land issues between CIDCO and Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB).
The proposed marina, if developed, would have reduced the travel distance between CBD Belapur and South Mumbai by more than half. CIDCO was to hand over 22 hectares of land for the said project.
However, sources claim that the land has been lying idle due to the ongoing tussle between the two agencies for a long time. To make things worse, the land is said to have been encroached upon illegally by locals.
In 2012, amid much hype, the government had announced plans of appointing international consultants to undertake a feasibility study of the project.
"As of now, the project does not seem to be working out due to land transfer issues. It is most likely to be scrapped soon. However, a similar project connecting Mankurd with Gateway of India is set to come up. We are in the process of issuing tenders soon," said a senior officer.
Despite having a 150-km coastline, Navi Mumbai has not been able to develop a waterfront similar to Marine Drive, Chowpatty, Haji Ali, Worli seaface, Dadar beach, Bandra bandstand, Carter road, Juhu or Versova.
In the 1990s, the government had made a similar attempt, where a hovercraft service between Navi Mumbai and South Mumbai was started to shorten the distance. However, it had to be discontinued soon, due to technical reasons. Since then, many attempts to connect the two parts through water transport have failed.
According to an estimate, there are over 300 yacht and luxury boats registered in Mumbai, with industrialists like the Ambani brothers and Vijaya Mallya, and politician Ganesh Naik.
However, due to lack of parking space, there are frequent reports of yachts dashing against each other, thereby causing damage.
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