Mumbai First urges CM Fadnavis to oppose MbPA land lease

The think tank wrote a letter to the chief minister saying that Mumbai’s dream of becoming a world-class city would be delayed by a few decades if the port authority decides to go ahead with leasing its land parcels

Mumbai: Mumbai First, a city-based think tank, has written to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis opposing the Mumbai Port Authority’s (MbPA’s) decision to lease 28 plots for industrial and commercial purposes, urging him to intervene and facilitate the implementation of the earlier plan to develop an eastern waterfront for the city.

The New Sewri Warehouse, one of the plots that the Mumbai Port Authority has put up for a 30-year lease. (Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

The letter, dated August 18, quotes Hindustan Times’s August 16 report titled ‘Unbuilt Vision: Why Mumbai’s Eastern Waterfront dream was so remarkable’. The report was about the MbPA’s 2018 plan to transform 966.3 hectares of land it owns on Mumbai’s eastern shoreline into a promenade, open spaces, gardens, and other amenities for the city. With the port authority now deciding to lease out 28 plots across 215 acres, as first reported by Hindustan Times on August 12, the ambitious eastern waterfront proposal has now been all but shelved.

“By way of this letter, we urge you to kindly intervene and facilitate the development of the valuable eastern waterfront in a holistic manner towards the larger benefit of Mumbai, and towards Maharashtra meeting its aspiration of becoming a trillion-dollar economy and sustaining the growth momentum,” the letter said.

If the Mumbai Port Authority decides to go ahead with leasing its land parcels, “we are afraid that Mumbai’s dream of becoming a world-class city would be delayed by a few decades,” Mumbai First said in the letter. Many other developed cities, such as London and Singapore, have redeveloped their port lands and boosted their economic prospects, the letter added.

Mumbai First, a non-profit policy think tank and public-private participation initiative dedicated to enhancing Mumbai’s status as a world-class city, said it had been seeking the planned development of the city’s port lands for over 20 years.

“An initial plan was conceptualised by the visionary architect Charles Correa. Subsequently, the Government of India appointed the Rani Jadhav committee and the Sanjay Bhatia committee to propose a plan for the development of Mumbai Port lands. Some leading consultants were also associated with these committees, proposing suitable plans. All the plans were conceptualised very well, and we were hoping that a suitable plan would be taken up for implementation, particularly considering the importance placed on Mumbai and Maharashtra’s rapid economic growth,” the letter said.

The think tank has urged Fadnavis to intervene and ask the Mumbai Port Authority and the Union shipping minister to implement the approved parts of the master plans proposed by the erstwhile committees. “We recognise that there are several challenges associated with implementing such a plan, but we recommend due consideration and planned implementation in phases if required,” the letter said.

This would be vital in realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “vision to make Maharashtra a growth engine and Mumbai a world-class financial capital,” the letter added.

The letter was signed by Mumbai First chairman Narinder Nayar and other board members such as Roger Pereira, Sanjay Ubale, Nandini Dias, Girish Luthra, Maneck Davar and Gul Kripalani.