Union Minister Nitin Gadkari should be congratulated for taking a bold decision and stopping the discharge of bulk cargo at MbPT jetties. The cargo handling of coal is responsible for air pollution. This activity can be shifted to a nearby facility considering suitability or can be done at anchorage through barges. The question which arises here is how to develop the land along Mumbai port. The best thing to do is to construct a Marina just like at Marina Bay ( behind Caribbean Keppel complex) at Singapore and La-Rambla at Barcelona. This will beautify the city and serve a very important purpose for the betterment of public health.
We should be encouraged to move out, jog, and walk along / just off the sea which will improve our health and wellness. The proposal of constructing floating hotels is not a good idea because it will increase conspicuous consumption, wasteful spending, increasing corruption and bribery. You will need to shell out substantial money at these luxury hotels for consuming alcohol, eating rich food. Persons like me may be denied entry there and managers will ask, “Uncle kya cutting chai peene ko aaye hai”.
If you really want a hotel, set up food court or a hotel like at the entrance of Durban harbour. It looks beautiful after dark, as the ship enters for berthing.
We can set up a marina with private pleasure boats moored therein and the sailing boats for pleasure and sports. If you visit foreign ports, at weekends you will notice a lot of private sailing boats moving out with families for sporting recreation. We also listen about the construction of some tunnels. Have a simple approach, work during night time and improve our existing roads and construct good flyovers.
Some advanced countries have constructed tunnels using good technology but we don’t have to complete every task today. Leave something for tomorrow. Presently we need to worry about providing clean drinking water to the citizens. The government must construct some desalination plants. We listen about the sewerage problems of Delhi in television. Let us resolve this issue. Let us do something urgently to curtail the increasing human population and control illegal immigration. These are burning issues. The government must conduct a survey of inhabitants at Reay Road and adjoining areas on MbPT land and clear the encroachments in an amicable manner.