MbPT men resign in protest

Nalinakshan, who also heads a special committee appointed by Chief Minister Manohar Joshi to monitor the project, said that the port trust was mixing up several issues like financial arrangements, trafficcongestion, environment and techno-economic feasibility.

In his letter to Mago, the principal secretary advised the port trust to restrict themselves to the issues of navigation and port operations.

quot;In short we are being bluntly told to mind our own business,quot; S R Kulkarni head of the Transport and Dock Workers Union told Express Newsline. Headed by Deputy Chairman R R Sinha, the sub-committee was set up by the port trust to study the proposal to permanently berth the decommissioned aircraft carrier off Radio Club.

Kulkarni said that under the Major Port Trusts8217; Act, traffic congestion and environment did concern the port since the land belonged to them.

quot;It8217;s unfair for the state government to say it had already decided on the site for the project,quot; Kulkarni said, terming Nalinakshan8217;s letter an onslaught on the autonomous functioning of the MbPT. The two trustees also demanded that Deputy Chairman Sinha resign from the state government8217;s special committee. quot;The Deputy Chairman cannot havedual loyalties in the matter,quot; said Dr Shanti Patel, President of the Mumbai Port Trust Dock and General Employees Union.

quot;The state government should be given the privilege to express its views,quot;Deputy Chairman Sinha said. Said sources, the meeting of the sub-committee of trustees scheduled for April 24 was postponed after protests by Kulkarni and Patel over the principal secretary8217;s letter.

The Vikrant was decommissioned on January 31 after 36 years of service. A Rs 70-crore proposal submitted by the Navy to the government soon after the decommissioning envisaged permanently embedding the Vikrant in a concrete dam at the seafront site which belongs to the MbPT. Last month, a committee of MbPT trustees appointed to study the Navy8217;s proposal concluded that further studies needed to be done and recommended that consultants be hired to study various other sites. Some members have raised various objections against the proposal.

quot;Traffic and environment are the responsibilities of the Maharashtra governmentnot the Mumbai port,quot; Nalinakshan had earlier told.

Earlier this month, stung by the port trust8217;s delay in granting the site for the project, the Chief Minister had urged the Prime Minister to intervene and save the historic ship.