Minister intervenes to end Sassoon Dock standoff

Ports minister Nitesh Rane says discussions are underway with MbPA and Centre to resolve dispute

- Linah Baliga and Yogesh Naik

The city’s fishing community, and everyone else employed in the seafood supply chain, heaved a collective sigh of relief on Monday, with the state government promising that the deadlock over warehouse rentals at Sassoon Dock would be worked out.

State fisheries and ports development minister, Nitesh Rane, said in the legislative council on Monday that the state government is working with the Mumbai Port Authority (MbPA) and the Maharashtra Fisheries Development Corporation (MFDC) to resolve the dispute.

“I have spoken to fishermen and the Mumbai Port Authority, and will also speak to the central government. We will find a way out of the impasse over the dues,” Rane said. “The fishing community will not be evicted (from the dock). I will assure fishermen agitating at Azad Maidan that we will find a solution,” he added. A crisis arose after MbPA, which owns 60 warehouses or godowns at Sassoon Dock in Colaba, recently threatened to shut these facilities if it did not receive rentals at par with Ready Reckoner rates.