Port trust, collector deny permission for boat parties this New Year

Though the police had given the green signal for New Year boat parties, the collector and Mumbai Port Trust authorities have now denied permission to boat owners to hold parties on December 31 night.

It’s official. You cannot usher in the New Year on a boat party in the high seas.

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Though the police had given the green signal for New Year boat parties, the collector and Mumbai Port Trust authorities have now denied permission to boat owners to hold parties on December 31 night.

Iqbal Mukadam, a boat owner at the Gateway of India, said they have received a notification saying they will be allowed to operate their boats at the Gateway till 9 pm on December 31 for security reasons.

“We thought this year we will be allowed to rent out our boats for parties. We were to meet with the authorities on Wednesday to discuss the guidelines for the parties, but were handed over this notification, instead” said Mukadam.

“We will suffer losses but we have to cooperate as the issue is about coastal security.”

Every year, all 100 small and medium-sized boats at the Gateway are booked for private New Year parties.

“We have not received a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the police saying they have allowed boats to be rented for New Year parties, so we cannot give permission, else we will be blamed if anything happens,” said Mumbai Port Trust’s Harbour manager Vijay Pereira.

“Our job is to follow orders. If the authorities had given permission for the parties, we would patrol along the coast to maintain law and order.

“Now that the permission has been denied, we will ensure that there are no boats in the sea after 9 pm,” said Anant Rane, senior police inspector, Versova Sagri police station.