Go patrol Pak border, no land will be given in Mumbai: Gadkari snubs Navy

Mumbai: Questioning why “all Navy officers need to stay in South Mumbai”, Union ports minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday declared that “not an inch of land” would be given to the Navy to build flats or quarters in the country’s most expensive area.

“The Navy is needed at the borders from where terrorists sneak in. Why does everyone (in the Navy) want to stay in south Mumbai? They (Navy) had come to me, asking for a plot (of land). I will not give even an inch of land. Please don’t come to me again,” Gadkari remarked while speaking at a public event in the city in the presence of Western Naval Command chief Vice-Admiral Girish Luthra.

Gadkari’s public display of displeasure comes in the backdrop of the Bombay High Court refusing permission for a floating jetty at Malabar Hill — citing the Navy’s objections due to security reasons — where a floating hotel and seaplane service are slated to come up. “Everyone wants to build quarters and flats on prime south Mumbai land. We respect the Navy, but you should go to the Pakistan border and do patrolling. A few important and senior officials can stay in Mumbai,” Gadkari said.

He added, “Land on the eastern seafront being jointly developed by the Mumbai Port Trust and the Maharashtra government will be utilised only for the benefit of locals."

Claiming that the Navy had given a stay to the floating jetty plan at Malabar Hill, despite getting the high court’s nod, Gadkari said, “Stopping such developmental work has become a habit.”

Gadkari said, “What has the Navy got to do with the Malabar Hill area, which is a private residential zone that also has the official residences of the Maharashtra governor and Chief Minister. The Navy has nothing to do in the area.”